Chapter 5 : Return of the Star
Chapter Summary : After a year-long break, Ai officially returns to B-komachi with a live performance and an Interview. Will she slip?
The warm light of the rising sun seeped into the room, lighting up the room in a gentle golden glow. Ai was up early to prepare for her long day ahead. Aqua slept peacefully on the futon beside Ruby. But unlike any other morning, Ruby was wide awake.
"Brother! Wake up!" She rocked Aqua and her voice buzzed with excitement. "Today's the day!"
Aqua groaned in his sleep "mmmmm…" and buried his face on the soft beddings of the futon.
"Bro– ther–!" She kept at it, trying to wake him up. All the disturbance made him slowly open his eyes.
"what…" he mumbled, still half asleep and he clumsily tried pushing his sister away "lemme sleep…." and turned the other way.
"How can you sleep like that! Today's Mama's live performance!" She chirped loudly with excitement, falling over her brother.
"mmmhm… dont be so loud, Ai will hear you…" he grumbled. "Get off me..". Though Ruby didn't listen.
"Mama's in the shower, she is getting ready for her performance! I can't wait to see Mama in her new costume! Aaaa~" Ruby was overflowing with excitement. "I couldn't even sleep last night!"
Aqua opened his eyes, rubbing them as they adjusted to the room. "Ruby, the show is at night. And you need proper sleep."
"I know I know, But I was too excited to sleep!" she got off her brother and sat beside him, now sure that he was up.
Aqua yawned as he pushed himself up, his tiny body felt a lot fatigued than usual. "What time is it?"
"Seven" Ruby chirped, still beaming with energy.
"Why did you wake me up so early~?" He collapsed back on the futon and closed his eyes.
Ruby shook him again "Brother!"
"Mmmmm.. lemme sleep, Ruby…" he whispered.
She gently rocked him in a rhythm, but he was already back asleep, unbothered by his sister. She stopped eventually, and sat up staring at his sleeping body, huffed up.
Ai was back from her morning routine and stepped into the room. Ruby's eyes sparkled seeing her mother and she crawled towards her.
Ai glanced at her babies, surprised that Ruby was up. "Aqua's still asleep. Why are you up so early Ruby?" Ai picked her up and cuddled her. "Did you sleep well~?"
"mmmm~" Ruby leaned into her mother's embrace.
Ai carefully scooped up sleeping Aqua with the other arm and carried them both to the living room. Placing Aqua gently in the cradle, she carried Ruby to the kitchen and sat her on the countertop, where she could keep an eye on her while she prepared the bottles.
She always prepared a bottle for Aqua, even if she knew Miyako probably had to reheat the milk.
Once Ai was done with the bottle, she brought it close to Ruby, bending down to her level "Say Aa–" On the sight of the bottle, however, Ruby turned her head away. Ai paused and blinked in surprise "eh-? You're not hungry?"
She tried more but Ruby burst into a tantrum. She was hungry, she had to be. Ai quickly realized she disliked the bottle.
"You don't like the bottle? you're a big girl now, Ruby~" she cooed, picking her baby girl up. She held her with care and tried once more to feed her, but Ruby wouldn't budge.
Ai had to be with the rest of B-komachi for practice by 8, and the clock read past 7:45 already. But she couldn't just ignore her baby girl's cries, even if she was in a rush.
She gave in even and put the bottle back on the countertop and gently rocked ruby, humming a soft tune to calm her down. It calmed the baby girl down quickly. Ai carried Ruby back to the living room, sat on the couch, and went on about her motherly duties. Taking her time.
- x -
One final rehearsal was scheduled in the early morning before the big live performance in the evening. The hall of Ichigo Productions on the building's first floor, buzzed with anticipation, from the music composer to the dance choreographer, and everyone else involved in the production were waiting to see B-komachi's performance.
It was an important day, Ai was officially back. The members of B-Komachi had arrived right on time—sharp at 8 AM.
Well, All but one.
"Ai is late today…" Watanabe wondered out loud, glancing at the clock on the wall "You guys think she overslept?"
They lounged lazily on and around the plush couch tucked into the corner of the rehearsal hall. The open empty hall echoed slightly with the murmur and footsteps of the crew buzzing around.
"Who knows" Takamine shrugged, "she is usually on time, so… maybe. Should one of us call her?" She turned to Nino, who was already absorbed in her phone "Nino?"
"I called her ten minutes ago," Nino replied dryly, not even bothering to look up. "She said she's on her way."
Takamine studied her for a moment. "You okay? You seem... I don't know, nervous."
"Nervous?" Watanabe huffed, half amused. "More like sad. Ai will take back her center spot of from her and Ari"
Nino's grip on her phone tightened, though her expression remained blank. "It's not like that."
Ari, sitting cross-legged on the floor, looked up and defended "So what, we will still be beside her!" The rest of the girls didn't buy that, her voice sounded a little upset, they knew she had really enjoyed being at the front for the past year. "And I'm happy Ai's back. The group's been missing her energy. We even lost a ton of followers after she left."
"We were steadily getting that back." Watanabe propped her chin on her hands "Nino had been really working hard to shine at that front spot"
Nino finally spoke, quieter this time. "It's harder than people think. You can't make mistakes when all eyes are on you."
Kyun, who had been picking at her nails, turned her head to Nino. "All eyes on all of us. Don't think you're hot stuff just because you are on the front." she deadpanned.
"Yeah, we're a team!" Ari added quickly in an overly enthusiastic voice.
Nino shook her head "We were. Now that Ai is back, it's her show… she probably had more fans than all of us combined"
"That's not how it is, come on" Ari countered "We all have good individual followings, don't we? Don't discredit yourself Nino"
Nino sighed "You know what I meant.. Just watch her pull the fans back in one day, that took us a year. She had always been the face of B-komachi. Did you forget that?"
A heavy pause settled over the group.
"We've done fine without her.." Ari said softly, almost as if trying to convince herself.
"Fine?" Nino snorted. "We lost half our followers the day she announced her hiatus."
Ari opened her mouth to respond but closed it again, sighing instead. "Yeah... you're right. I wonder what really happened to her."
Nino's gaze flickered for a second. "I heard she was in some hospital. Somewhere far away."
Ari looked up, surprised. "How do you know that?"
Takamine crossed her arms. "Makes sense. She disappeared for eight months, something really serious must have happened"
"She seems completely fine" Ari muttered. "Should we ask her about it?" She looked around expecting an answer from the group.
"Leave it" Nino said sharply "it doesn't really matter now, does it?"
Watanabe nodded. "Yeah, if it's something personal or something embarrassing… we shouldn't press her."
"I agree." Takamine nodded as well.
Meimei groaned loudly, stretching her arms above her head. "Ugh, where is she? Wasn't the rehearsal supposed to start at 8?"
"She probably overslept" Watanabe said, yawning. "I don't blame her, I'm sleepy still"
"Yeah but we are all here aren't we? except her" Meimei grumbled. "What's the point of rehearsing again anyway? We've done this a thousand times already"
Watanabe shot her a glance. "It's her big return. President Saitou doesn't want any mistakes. You know how important this is for everyone"
"True" Ari chimed in, shifting uncomfortably. "Have you seen the costumes?"
"They're supposed to arrive this afternoon" Nino said. "Kind of cutting it close, if you ask me"
"What if the fittings are wrong?" Meimei said, clearly frustrated "There won't be any time to make corrections!"
"Yeah, we will–" As Ari was about to say something but was cut short by the loud voice that echoed through the hall.
"Hey– guys!"
All six heads turned. Ai, with her usual bright energy, waved enthusiastically from the entrance as she strode toward them. Her eyes sparkled, and her long, flowing hair bounced with each step.
"Where were you?" Meimei stood up quickly, brushing herself off. "We've been waiting for you."
Ai blinked, looking genuinely surprised. "Am I late? I thought we planned to meet at 9!"
"It was 8" Watanabe said as a matter of fact, as everyone else got up from the couch.
Ai laughed it off, still as bubbly as ever. "Oops! Well, come on! Let's get going—we don't want to keep everyone waiting!"
"You– kept everyone waiting" Meimei deadpanned. Ai giggled as she walked behind everyone.
"Finally" their choreographer commented, gesturing everyone to hurry. "Loosen up those muscles. You guys have 5 minutes to warm up."
Five minutes later on the clock, He clapped to get the group's attention "Come'on everyone in position!"
He waited for everyone to be in position, then put on the music and gestured for them to start.
All eyes were on them now.
- x -
The dresses had arrived late as expected, but the girls of B-Komachi had just enough time to check their fit and test their mobility. Fortunately, there were no major issues and none of the members had any complaints that the dressers didn't have a quick fix for.
As soon as they were done checking everything, it was time to leave.
The anticipation weighed on them as they made their way to the small studio where the live show and interview would be filmed. For a program called N-Step.
Despite the glamour of it all, the studio felt bare behind the scenes. Just a handful of production staff, bright lights, and a carefully curated stage that sparkled in contrast to the stark, functional surroundings.
One by one, the girls of B-Komachi walked onto the stage, introducing themselves with polished smiles and energetic waves. The atmosphere felt thin, hollow without a live audience, but the cameras beamed their performance to thousands of fans watching from home.
Finally, the last member stepped forward – the one everyone had been waiting for.
"I'm Ai!" she chirped, throwing a wink and a victory sign toward the camera. Her entrance was met with perfect synchronization from the rest of the group, their voices blending in unison as they chimed, "And we are B–Ko–Machi! Thank you for your support, everyone!"
The host, Mr. Takashi, clapped enthusiastically along with the pretend crowd sound effects.
"And here she is, the girl in question – Miss Ai!" He gestured grandly toward her, his voice full of showbiz warmth.
She waved at the camera with a perfect smile that had been practiced a million times in front of a mirror.
"So, Ai," the host began, "How does it feel to be back? I'm sure you've enjoyed your little vacation."
She tilted her head slightly, her tone playful yet firm. "Ah, it wasn't as relaxing as you might think, Mr. Takashi. I missed my fans so much!"
He nodded "Well, I think it's safe to say the fans across Japan missed you just as much!" He laughed briefly, then pivoted to the next question. "We heard you had a little medical condition. Have you been eating well?"
"Of course!" She chirped. "Speaking of eating, earlier my baby–"
"Your Baby?" He interrupted with his voice pitching upward in surprise.
She didn't miss a beat "My baby cat. You didn't let me finish." she clarified, letting out a small, nervous laugh. "She made such a fuss about drinking her milk. I started taking care of one recently during my break" The tension in her voice dissipated quickly as she chuckled.
"Ahh– my apologies! Looks like we have a cat-lover in B-komachi. They are certainly cute creatures"
"They are the cutest–!" she smiled warmly and cheerfully.
"Certainly! But not as cute as all of you!" He turned back to the camera. "And now, the moment we've all been waiting for! A live performance from B-Komachi!"
Meanwhile…
The N-step director was watching the interview from a distance away from the stage, along with his assistant. Even though it was all staged from script to the timing, he couldn't help but smug amusingly watching Ai improvise going off script for a moment.
His assistant noticed him watching diligently "B-komachi, Do you know this group?" she asked.
He replied without diverting his gaze "They are just another Idol group out of hundreds out there. I don't recall that name."
Another man who sat beside them jumped in their conversation "I have heard their recordings, some of their songs are good"
Director turned his head to the man "It doesn't matter how good the music is. It's all about what sells. No one cares about quality if it doesn't rake in the money."
"True" the man responded. "That girl over there" he pointed, "she's got big boobs. She should be a model and not an Idol"
"Yeah, sure. You want to ask her out for dinner? We can discuss that with her." the assistant director said.
"I wasn't serious about asking her to join ours. Think… uh.. Strawberry productions? was it? They'd let her go?"
"Never worked with them before, they're a small agency, so I doubt that." she replied.
"...A live performance from B-komachi!" the host announced, that was the cue to cut the cameras. The director walked forward to let them know with a smile and a thumbs up "We are switching cameras in 30 seconds! Good luck! I hope to see a wonderful performance!"
The cameramen adjusted their cameras, giving a thumbs up ensuring a good capture.
Saitou watched with his hands clenched behind his back. He walked forward beside the cameras and gave all of B-komachi a reassuring thumbs up.
He was nervous, and was sure all the girls were nervous too. This was their first performance with Ai in a long time. But he put on a smile regardless, not letting anyone get a hint of it.
In the entertainment world, behind every smile, there is a calculated lie. In order to get the best performance out from a celebrity, even the staff spits out lies.
People in showbiz make it seem like they create good shows and music for everyone to enjoy, when all they care about is numbers.
Everyone lies. Even if they don't want to.
'Our Ai up there, is a magnificent liar!' Saitou watched with confidence in his group, with a smug smile.
The girls moved into position, Ai taking her place front and center. She held the mic with one hand, the other raised up in the air and her smile was dazzling.
The music blared through the speakers, and the girls leaped into action, their movements sharp and synchronized, every beat matched with precision. Ai's solo moment came at the chorus—she formed a heart with her hands, bringing it up to her face as she sang, her voice clear and sweet, carrying the melody with effortless grace.
As the song hit its peak, Ai slipped back, allowing the rest of the group to take the lead in a perfectly timed inverted V-formation. Their energy was palpable, every movement charged with intensity. They were professionals, after all.
- x -
"Ruby! Wake up!" Aqua shook his little sister gently, trying to rouse her from sleep. Ruby was completely dormant. He sighed, "I knew this would happen"
For the past few minutes, Aqua had been attempting to wake her – after all, Ai's live performance was about to start. 'Well' he muttered to himself, giving up, 'I'm not missing Ai's show'
He crawled over to the TV, his small fingers fumbling with the remote as he pressed the power button. The screen flickered to life just in time to catch Ai's interview.
"Speaking of eating, earlier my babies–" Ai's voice filled the room.
"Oh crap– " Aqua's eyes widened. He watched Ai stumble for a second, quickly catching herself with a smooth lie. He leaned closer, holding his breath for a moment.
'She really had me for a moment. How could she be so careless…'
In his previous life, he always saw Ai as a perfect and composed Idol who could make no mistake. Being so close to her now, he had learned how she really is behind the scenes.
'I feared this would happen…' he thought grimly. 'If our existence gets out in public, they will lose everything… Will we be alright? President Saitou is there to handle things'
His train of thought was interrupted by the host's announcement of B-komachi's performance.
His eyes momentarily shifted to his sleeping sister. 'I guess I can record it for her' He pressed the record button, just before the show began.
As the performance began, Aqua's focus was locked onto Ai. She commanded the stage with every movement, every note. Her voice was as mesmerizing as he remembered– no, even better. Her expressions, her smile– it was all perfect.
He sat there, transfixed by the sight of her, a small, involuntary smile creeping onto his face as the music filled the room.
Behind him, Ruby stirred, her eyes blinking open slowly. She shot up the moment she recognized who that singing voice belonged to. "Wait–" she mumbled, pushing herself out of the cradle with a sleepy but panicked urgency. "N-Step already started?!"
She scrambled closer to the TV as her sleep vanished completely "I'm missing it! Why didn't you wake me up?!"
"I tried to, you wouldn't wake up" Aqua replied, his eyes still glued to the TV.
Ruby settled beside her brother and was overflowing with excitement "Mama's so beautiful!" she squealed. "Her expressiveness when she turns is amazing! Her voice is just so amazing! Cute face, Good style, Great at singing and those killer moves. Our mom is just too talented!"
The performance soon ended, and with it Ruby's overflowing excitement faded into disappointment. "I missed so much of it…"
"I recorded it for you" Aqua picked up the remote to replay Ai's performance.
"You did?!" Her eyes lit up and she tackled Aqua with a hug "You're the best brother ever!"
"Yeah– yeah– Get off me" he tried pushing her away.
The room filled with music once again as Ai's performance replayed on the screen. Ruby scooted a little too close to the TV and waved her arms, swaying with her body with the music.
The way she moved so naturally to the music, her pure joy. It reminded him of someone.
'She is just like you, Sarina…' A ridiculous thought popped into his head 'Is it possible?'
"Let's watch it again, brother!" She called out, snapping him back to reality. She turned to him, eyes gleaming with excitement and a finger pointed to the TV, "AGAIN!" she demanded.
Aqua smiled and hit replay. 'Nah.. Sarina has been gone for years. She is probably someone who passed away the same time as me'
He pushed those thoughts aside, as he watched the performance again. Letting himself get swept up in the music, caught up in the rhythm swaying his body, along with his enthusiastic sister.
Authors Notes : I was thinking how long a chapter should be, this one's shorter than the rest and I kept trying to come up with something to add to this, But if a chapter is done, the chapter is done.
Up Next - Chapter 6 : Genius Kids