SIDE: Hoshino Aqua
"From now on, real love begins! All filming is over!!"
"Good work, everyone!!"
"Wow, looking back, it went by in the blink of an eye."
"A lot happened, but it was really fun."
"If Akane says that, I have nothing more to add~"
The six cast members of Now I Real gathered, and MEM-cho and Yuki naturally took seats on either side of Aqua.
"So."
"Can I ask right away?"
They casually brought up the kiss between Aqua and Akane in the final episode.
"You kissed at the end! Are you really dating!?"
"What's going on!?"
MEM-cho's gaze turned to Aqua, and Yuki's to Akane, but Akane blushed and looked away, embarrassed.
After a moment of hesitation, Akane spoke up.
"I... I don't know... For the flow of the show, I had to go along with it, but with work and everything, dating..."
"No, no! Even if you're a celebrity, once you're in high school, having a boyfriend or two is normal!"
"Yuki, yours change all the time, don't they?"
"Is that my image? Honestly, work always comes first, so I've never had a boyfriend until now."
Yuki's words seemed unexpected.
"Liar!"
"I heard it's true. Someone in the same acting department as Yuki said so."
"Surprisingly, she's really chaste..."
"But there are a lot of people like that among models, idols, and actors. The dating ratio is similar to regular people. There are cases like Yume-senpai and Ai-senpai, who've been dating for quite a long time."
"Ah~ their relationship was shocking..."
"Why?"
Aqua, puzzled by MEM-cho's comment, asked in a tone that questioned her reasoning.
"Huh? Well, the two of them were in a manager-idol relationship since the B-Komachi days, right? And before that, they were raised in the same facility~ I mean~ aren't they a perfect match?"
"Yeah, I think so too!"
For some reason, Aqua didn't feel bad hearing their words. It took quite a while for the conversation to return to the original topic after delving into Yume and Ai's love story.
"Well, with those two—no, with Yume-senpai having such powerful backing, they can afford to be relaxed... Honestly, industries that claim to ban dating have a lower ratio, and sometimes it even gets exposed..."
Meanwhile, Aqua slowly got up and left the group.
SIDE: Hoshino Yume.
"......Well, it's probably not my place to interfere now."
More than that, how perfect is this disguise? No one even knows I'm here. I was invited, which is fine, but I thought I might draw attention, so I disguised myself lightly. But no one recognized me at all, which is surprisingly hurtful... or maybe it's because I've been sticking to the corners too much?
As I thought this, the PD listening to the conversation of the five, excluding Aqua, spoke up.
"From now on, we production staff won't interfere with you. Whether you date or break up, that's up to you. There have been several couples who dated and even got married. Right, formally... some people just live as a couple in name only for a few months. Think carefully and decide for yourselves. This industry is full of bad adults who'll use your talent as much as they can and then discard you. There might be sweet temptations, but kids who get swept up in the atmosphere always end up in ruin."
It wasn't wrong. This industry is tough and full of shady dealings, even so.
"Isn't that a bit too harsh, Director?"
"You were here?"
I slowly approached and spoke to the PD, who drank from the beer in his hand as if he expected me to come. The five others looked surprised to see me. Ah, this might be pretty fun.
"Well, sometimes you need advice from a bad adult like me, right, Yume?"
"Then shall I offer some good adult advice?"
"Haha! There aren't many people as clean as you, Yume. Or maybe it's natural, considering your original work..."
The PD naturally continued the conversation with me, but the kids didn't seem to. They stared at me with disbelieving expressions, which felt quite cute. Of course, our Aqua and Ruby are the cutest.
"Hmm... right, what kind of advice should I give?"
I took off the stuffy mask and pondered. But what made me think harder was that there wasn't much I could advise on. What is this? Is the entertainment industry a place where clean people can't survive long? No, that's not true...
"Well, honestly, whether my words help you or not depends on how you take them. In my case, I had powerful backing that no one could mess with, so I got through smoothly. But you're different. You're still kids and easy to take advantage of. Even so, if there's something you truly want to do, never give up. The moment you give up, all the effort you've put in becomes wasted. Struggle, struggle, and struggle some more, hang on stubbornly. Someday, you'll definitely achieve what you want."
What I could say was something anyone could say, but not everyone can easily do—not giving up. Not giving up is never easy. I know because I've been there. But the result of not giving up and struggling is who I am now. So, my words might carry a bit more weight than others'.
"Was that good adult advice?"
"I don't know. I'm not a good adult, so I can't say. Oh, by the way, where did the bad kid go?"
"The bad kid... you mean Aqua?"
"Ah, right, Yume is looking after that kid, isn't he?"
"Well, he's like a little brother to me."
He's my son. I'm his backup. If anyone messes with our Aqua, they're done for...
Anyway, moving on, Aqua is probably meeting with Director Kaburagi Masaya.
SIDE: Hoshino Aqua
Aqua and Director Masaya stood in an alley outside the building.
"Sip... hoo... Now I Real has a good reputation. My judgment in casting you wasn't wrong, it seems. You really do have the talent worthy of Yume's attention."
"Well... it's true that Yume has my back, but saying I have talent is a bit ambiguous. And this time, it ended up drawing attention through controversy."
"Hahaha! That's true too. Yume's talent is nothing short of divine. By the way, I heard you covered up that situation with your skills? But that video caused some issues with the higher-ups. Not leaking raw footage externally is a cardinal rule in broadcasting. How did this happen... Even as a performer, breaking that taboo is serious. There was even talk of demanding compensation from Ichigo Production."
"There was talk... but it didn't happen, right."
Aqua could grasp the situation to some extent. Even if they tried to demand compensation from Ichigo Production...
"Ah, the moment someone mentioned compensation, everyone realized who's behind Ichigo Production."
"Hoshino Yume."
Mine and Ruby's father. And one of the most powerful figures in Japan. It's known that Hoshino Yume, who has overwhelming influence beyond just industry power, is dating Hoshino Ai from Ichigo Production. The moment they realized that, who could demand compensation? Well, even before that...
"Right, Yume is such an incredible person... Of course, his company is scary too, but even before the company, Yume himself is quite intimidating."
"But that's not all, is it? The contract states that performers are allowed to post behind-the-scenes content on the program's official SNS. So, I posted that video on the official SNS. I just followed the contract exactly."
Well, having Yume's backing was the biggest factor.
"No loopholes, I see."
"Thank you."
"And you kept your contract with me. You did a good job. I should pay you properly, right? How about going for sushi next week? I have some stories about Ai saved up to share."
"...I'll make time."
Not long after Director Masaya left.
"Aqua~"
Yuki was the first to run up to Aqua.
"Come here for a sec!"
"Did you think we'd let you slip away?"
"...."
Seriously. They're good kids... I thought, but the moment I stepped in, the person Aqua saw was.
"Hey."
".....Why are you here?"
Aqua genuinely didn't want to see his father in front of him. He lightly brushed past Yume, who had frozen with a shocked expression, and spent time with Akane.
"Hey, Aqua. What are you going to do from now on?"
"Do about what? Ah..... since the show aired, we have to act as boyfriend and girlfriend for a while."
At Aqua's calm words.
"I know that too but...."
"Then..."
"I mean, well..."
Akane cut off Aqua and then.
"Are we dating for work? Or is it real?"
She decided to ask directly.
"No, it's not really like work..."
"You don't have to be considerate for no reason. To you, Aqua, I don't seem like a romantic interest, right?"
"Ah, no..."
Aqua couldn't say anything in response to Akane's words. Because it was the truth.
"I know, that much..."
".....I admit, I don't see you as a romantic interest. I think dating is just an extension of work. However, I have a strong interest in you as an actress... this isn't a lie."
My mother, Hoshino Ai, acknowledged her, and my father, Hoshino Yume, acknowledged her—the actress Kurokawa Akane. At the point where those two recognized her, I thought she would be the most help to me. I need Kurokawa Akane's acting skills. So, the words I spoke aren't false.
"I see... well, that's fine. That's actually the happiest thing for me to hear. Then let's live as boyfriend and girlfriend for work. The real couple is enough with Yuki and Nobuyuki!"
"What?"
Those two are dating?
"You didn't notice? Yuki and Nobu started dating a while ago."
"Really? But during filming, they acted distant..."
"Their technique is amazing, right? But I like that side of Yuki. Yuki said it's her first boyfriend ever."
"Really, you never know."
Seriously, why is my life filled with so many unknowable things?
SIDE: Hoshino Yume
"So, it seems you had quite a bit of fun, Aqua."
"Well, it wasn't bad."
"Good. If you say so, I have nothing to add. And you made plans with Director Masaya, right?"
"....I can't hide anything from you. Really."
"Sorry, sorry, but I heard everything."
".....How did you hear?"
"Hehe, this senpai is more impressive than you think."
"No, impressive in a different way."
Before we knew it, the after-party ended, and Aqua and I slowly started walking back. Surprisingly, it wasn't just us.
"See you later!!!"
"Good work."
"Thank you for the autograph, Yume-senpai!!!!"
Aqua and I, and the other four excluding MEM-cho, were on the opposite side. By the way, everyone got autographs.
"MEM, aren't you taking a taxi?"
Oh... Aqua calling her MEM? Our Aqua has become a player in attracting girls...!
"No, it's close enough to walk... and with Yume-senpai here, I have some things I want to ask while walking!"
"Ahaha, if you're Aqua's friend, you're like a little sister to me too. Ask away."
Aqua making friends... this father is happy...!!
"By the way, you live pretty close, right?"
"Really? I guess you live closer than I thought."
"Well... people in the industry tend to live around this area!"
"....Hmm?"
Aqua and I walked slowly, but MEM stood still, so we turned back to look.
"It's lonely. I really loved this set."
"Oh?"
"MEM-chan is a sensitive kid, isn't she?"
"Ehehe... ah, but Aqua-kun probably isn't feeling lonely, right?"
Well... our son has practically no sensitivity... did I raise him wrong...!!
"He has Akane as his girlfriend!"
"What!?"
At MEM-chan's comment, I quickly looked at Aqua, and Aqua tried to run away, but.
"Aqua, mind telling me the details of that story?"
"Wai... it hurts!! It hurts, so let go!? No, I said stop, why are you squeezing harder!?!?"
"Ahahahahahaha!!!!!"
In the end, I held onto Aqua for about 30 minutes.
"Haa... it's strictly a work relationship with Akane."
"A work relationship... tsk."
I wish you'd bring home a girlfriend soon. Of course, not Ruby!!!!
"Well, it's fine for the first time, isn't it? It might become real soon."
"It won't happen."
It probably won't, not with Aqua as he is now.
"You say that, but you blushed when you saw Akane acting as Ai-senpai!"
"Oho~ interesting story, Aqua."
"Stop looking at me with that expression, both of you."
"Sure, sure. By the way, MEM-chan knows a lot, doesn't she? Not from the B-Komachi generation... ah."
Come to think of it, her age is... 25, right...?
"Ahaha... B-Komachi is something everyone admires!"
With those words, we continued walking in silence, but.
"Just between us... I'll only tell Aqua-kun and Yume-senpai. I originally aimed to be an idol. But I went through a lot and got discouraged... now I'm bravely doing YouTube, but!"
"Hmm... is that so?"
After a moment of thought at MEM-chan's words, a good idea came to mind.
"MEM-chan, how about coming to Ichigo Production?"
"Huh?"
"At Ichigo Production, where my girlfriend works, the newly formed B-Komachi is currently recruiting members."
"B... B-Komachi with me...? Such a joke..."
"Aqua didn't deny my words, and I'm not the type to joke about such things."
That's a good expression.