An unexpected encounter always brings embarrassment with it.
But for someone on good terms, it is quickly covered by a great, genuine delight.
And for someone on bad terms, even displeasure gets layered over the embarrassment like whipped cream.
Then what, exactly, should he show the small red-haired girl standing before him, who was neither on good terms nor bad terms with him?
In the brief moment it took for Aqua to blink three, maybe four times, he reached his decision—
Thud-
"Ah-!?"
Kana’s bag, hanging from her small shoulder, slipped down and fell to the floor.
Because she hadn’t zipped it shut, the contents spilled across the practice room floor.
Talk about adding insult to injury.
"Hngh."
What was so embarrassing and irritating about showing such a clumsy side in front of a boy?
Biting her lip, Kana ignored the question that flickered through her mind and hurriedly bent her knees.
She couldn’t even find the timing to offer a light greeting, or to snap, "Why are you suddenly barging in here!?"
The scattered notebooks and books, the light cosmetics and small mirror that girls her age usually carried as essentials—everything that exposed her private side to the boy—
"How embarrassing!"
Why was it embarrassing?
"Here."
"Huh?"
That was...
He had crouched down with her, matching her eye level.
Those blue, crystal-clear eyes that so closely resembled [idol] eyes.
"What are you waiting for? Take it."
"Ah, th-thank you..."
Because he was looking at "me."
Instead of the scattered cosmetics, he was pretending not to notice and picking up her notebooks and books, gathering them neatly and handing them back.
To the dishonest "me" who kept blurting out rude, sharp words at will—
You.
"Tomorrow is your last shoot with your mother, right?"
Judging by the sign beside the door that read "A-1 Practice Room," it was clear she had been rehearsing for tomorrow’s shoot.
After taking the things he handed over, and while she was still frantically tidying up the items scattered from the bag, Aqua casually spoke to Kana in a tone that pretended not to notice the script pages spread open before her, covered in dense notes and multicolored underlines.
Startled by Aqua’s sudden question, Kana, already flustered, spoke in an awkward, stiff voice that was unlike her.
"Ah, y-yeah. It’s... it turned out that way. Since it’s the ‘last’ one, it’s a shame, so, um, even if it’s a shame, the actor who keeps working hard and does their very best to rehearse is a 「pro」, right?"
"..."
Aqua stared at the girl, whose face was obviously bright red as she rambled nonsense.
With a calm, mature gaze that somehow looked almost pitying toward a girl much younger than himself—
Kana’s chest throbbed, and her heart dropped with a dull ache. In reaction, she blurted out in a sudden flare of indignation.
"What! Why are you making that annoying, greasy, grown-up look again, you jerk!"
It was an over-the-top reaction meant to hide her embarrassment.
But it seemed to work, because Aqua immediately lowered his eyes and awkwardly scratched his forehead.
"Ah."
"Ah? Ahhh??"
"It’s a habit. Sorry if it bothered you."
Kana, who had made a habit of imagining the boy in her head, wanted nothing more than to crawl into a mouse hole after showing him such a foolish, clumsy side.
But Aqua, with his mature composure and trademark indifference, had apologized so casually that she blushed again and couldn’t bring herself to snap back at him.
She didn’t want to lose, but it wasn’t a good time to push any further.
So shameless! So shameless!!
Swallowing the words she couldn’t bring herself to say, Kana deliberately acted irritated, gripping the strap of her bag tightly before slinging it over her shoulder.
She grabbed the script she had left open on the floor exactly where she had been reading it, then—
Hmph! Kana let out a huffy snort and straightened up, and Aqua, after casting her a glance, also rose to his feet.
Like his father, Aqua had already grown to 173 cm by third year of middle school, while Kana, at 150 cm, deliberately glared up at him like an angry cat.
She didn’t want to get swept up in those eyes.
She didn’t want to get swept up!
Kana absolutely did not want to be whisked away by Aqua.
Anyway. Anyway, that was how she felt.
But.
"I wasn’t... trying to look on purpose, but."
"...Look at what?"
Whether Kana liked it or not—
Aqua lowered his blue eyes slightly, met Kana’s gaze, and after a brief pause, swallowed his words and thought for a moment.
At the suddenly serious look on the boy’s face, Kana’s eyebrows twitched and her eyes narrowed.
For Aqua, it might have been unnecessary meddling, but the traces of Kana’s effort and passion, written densely across the script that had fallen into his eyes—
"......"
—had made him think of the single most precious 【mother】 in the world.
【What is Director Gotanda drawing? What am I... lacking for ‘Yui’?】
Because he had watched the script and rehearsed with his mother, Aqua immediately recognized which part of which scene the page Kana had spread out belonged to, and recalled it from memory.
Even if he weren’t her rehearsal partner, it was a script written personally by Director Gotanda, so there was more than enough merit in setting aside time to analyze and study it.
And the traces of fierce 고민—of agonized thought—contained in Arima Kana’s neat, tidy handwriting were something he, as an 「actor」 who always approached acting with the same kind of 고민, could not simply ignore.
Helping her immerse herself in the role without lacking anything, so that she could give her all as the counterpart to his 【favorite】—
【You know, Aqua. When I’m filming with Kana-chan, I feel like I’m learning a lot from Kana-chan too, mm? It’s so much fun!】
—was also the way to protect the happiness of his 【favorite】.
"Arima."
"Eh?"
In that instant, Aqua finished his moment of intense thought, his blue eyes shining as he called Kana by her surname.
"I don’t think it’s your job, as the one playing 「Aizawa Yui」, to worry about exactly what kind of image Director Gotanda wants."
"......What?"
She shouldn’t be the one worrying about what Director Gotanda wanted?
At the unexpected words, Kana frowned and tilted her head before she realized it.
But Aqua didn’t care, and instead looked quietly at the script booklet in Kana’s hands rather than at Kana herself.
Those blue, transparent eyes drifted far away, chasing the 「past」.
"...Even terminal patients who have finished treatment and are preparing for the end of their lives... in the end, want to live one more day, even if it’s just one day more.
The fear of waiting for approaching death is fear enough, but the fear of closing their eyes before the person they love—the person precious to them—is...
And the people who stand beside such a patient, watching them tremble in fear while carrying those feelings, are the same... It’s heartbreaking. Even if they try to hide it, it still shows.
That kind of atmosphere. That kind of expression."
"......"
Kana’s red eyes calmly met Aqua’s lowered blue gaze.
This wasn’t presumptuous meddling. It wasn’t interference.
Kana was not so foolish that she failed to notice Aqua was offering advice to her, someone who was acting as 「Aizawa Yui」 with all his 【sincerity】 for reasons she couldn’t know.
But—
"Sad?"
Kana understood.
Aqua’s deep, serious gaze, not born from a simple imaginative or emotional description but something that could only be projected if it came from real experience...
"So... when you want to give up, you deliberately try to look like you’re not giving up, and try to keep one more person in your sight—the person standing beside you.
More than the selfish desire to somehow extend your own life, it’s like the selfish desire to reassure the person you love... something like that. It’s... 「selflessness」.
Even up to the very moment life is leaving you, you keep doing your best—not for yourself, but for the one person who is there to see you through to the end."
They had met again, like a miracle.
The child who was one of the most precious pieces in both the previous life of 『Amamiya Goro』 and the current life of 『Hoshino Aquamarine』.
The child who taught him the responsibility of living each given day to the fullest, and how precious the ‘love’ received from a small being could be.
【Sensei!】
That was why Aqua knew.
And why he hoped.
What kind of feelings Arima Kana should have when acting as 「Aizawa Yui」.
And.
What kind of feelings he wanted her to have while acting.
"Rather than frantically trying to do what Director Gotanda wants, show the Director the 「Aizawa Yui」 you’ve thought about and analyzed yourself.
Director... well, he’s not quite as perfect as you think he is."
"......"
When Kana fell silent and stared blankly at him, Aqua awkwardly scratched his cheek and covered for himself.
"...It’s just advice from one actor to another. I also volunteered at a hospital before, so. I’ve experienced a little of it..."
"Advice...?"
"You can ignore it if you want. The one standing in front of the camera is you, Arima-san."
Indifferent, yet deliberate.
Deliberate.
Aqua’s stiff, serious, and private “advice,” given specifically to her, was.
By no means presumptuous meddling or interference to Kana.
Her chest pounded so hard it felt suffocating, and she wanted to shout something out loud again and again.
She felt like she could run wild around the practice room like a dog whose leash had been slipped at any moment.
An uncontrollable whirlpool of emotion turned into cold sweat, dampening Kana’s forehead.
The wise Kana shut her red eyes tightly and silently prayed Aqua would not notice, straining to steady her breathing and regain her composure.
The way to divert attention was to find a new thing to pay attention to.
With her eyes still shut tight, Kana clutched the strap of her bag and said,
"...C-call me Kana."
"...Huh??"
"I mean, you keep saying Arima-san, Arima-san—drawing a line and acting all grown-up, like you’ve lived through everything! I hate being treated like a kid by you!? I, I mean, the advice itself might be okay, bu—"
"Were you here?"
At the familiar youthful voice coming from outside the open practice room door, both of them turned their heads toward the sound at the same time.
When they did, Kaoru came into view in Aqua and Kana’s eyes, smiling beside Rentaro.
"Ah, s-s-se-senpai! Hello!"
Startled by the sudden appearance of her sky-high senior and [idol], Kana, having completely forgotten her conversation with Aqua, immediately bowed at a sharp 90 degrees.
At Kana’s polite behavior, so completely different from how she treated him, Aqua’s eyes narrowed strangely.
"Hahaha. You don’t have to greet me so formally, Arima-san. We’re family, aren’t we?"
For Kaoru, who was only one year older than Ruby and effectively old enough to be her father, it was a little burdensome to be greeted like some immense being passed down from ancient times by a family member the age of his daughter.
Rentaro, who had immediately caught the meaning behind Kaoru’s words, coughed lightly behind him to hold back his laughter and said,
"I thought you’d gone home, but you were still in the practice room?"
"Ah, yes. President. I, I happened to run into Aqua-kun, so I was just talking for a bit about tomorrow’s shoot."
Kana was explaining the time she had spent with Aqua even though no one had asked, but Rentaro simply nodded with a pleased smile and said,
"Aha~ Right. Tomorrow is the last shoot with Ai, after all. Haha. You really do need talent that works hard too. Hmm."
"Hehe... thank you for the compliment!"
At Kana’s polite bow, Aqua’s eyes narrowed even more—but Rentaro patted Kaoru on the shoulder and checked his wristwatch.
"Good. Since we’re done here, let’s head home soon. I’ll contact the road manager, so Kana-chan should get home quickly and rest well too. Tomorrow’s shoot. We need to wrap it up successfully."
"Yes! I’ll do my best not to cause any trouble!"
"Haha. Nice meeting you, Kana-chan. Do well with the shoot. Ai always praises you, you know."
"Ah, yes, yes! Senpai! Thank you!"
Before long, Aqua had slipped over to stand beside his father, and turned his clear blue eyes toward Kana.
For a moment, when Kana met Aqua’s blue gaze, she flinched and found herself unconsciously parting her lips.
But even that—
"See you next time, 『Kana』."
"!"
—was left behind with his indifferent voice.
Toward Aqua, who turned his back and walked away with his father.
Toward the boy who was clearly a year younger, yet whose inner thoughts she could never quite grasp, Kana couldn’t tear her wavering gaze away.
"...I really hate you. I really do."
Unlike the sharp criticism that escaped her lips, her face was bright red as she bit her lip hard for no reason.
She still hadn’t realized that her worries about tomorrow’s last shoot had become much lighter.
-
Driving, Kaoru glanced sideways at his son, who sat in the passenger seat looking out the window.
People often describe third-year middle schoolers as being in the stormy turbulence of adolescence.
But Aqua and Ruby had both grown up so well, without any major ups and downs, that he was nothing but grateful and proud.
The babies he loved so much it would hurt to put them in his eyes had grown up like this, and now they even had moments to sink into thought and reflect on the day’s events.
...I wonder what he talked about with Kana-chan.
Ah!
Was he, in the end, just an ordinary father after all?
He couldn’t help but be curious, in a subtle way, about his third-year middle school son’s romantic life... ah, no, his social life.
While filming, there were sometimes chances to talk with seniors who had children in high school or college.
From those conversations, Kaoru had learned that matters related to a child’s romantic relationships were, surprisingly, one of the very first things parents cared about.
More than even academic or career paths, in fact!
Of course, Kaoru had already worked hard to ensure that Aqua, Ruby, and even Ame developed healthy views on relationships through proper sex education.
Though, for Ruby and Ame, he had been even more loaded with selfish motives than he was with Aqua...
Anyway, he had allowed free romantic relationships, while also putting in a lot of effort to make sure the children would have the mindset to sincerely care for, understand, and be considerate toward their partners.
He had also told them that if they ever started dating, they should feel free to tell him and his wife without any pressure.
But there had been no news yet!
Of course, it wasn’t a big problem.
Aqua and Ruby both had clear dreams and goals they wanted to achieve on their own, so they might not have much interest in dating.
As their father! He was just as determined as ever to cheer them on and support them so they wouldn’t struggle!
But! He was still curious!
"Ahem. You must be hungry, son. Your mother said she made hamburger steak with Ruby and Ame."
At Kaoru’s words, Aqua turned from the window and smiled.
It was a smile filled with pure happiness and joy, one he had never shown Kana.
"Wow. Really? It’s been a while since Mom made it herself."
"Right. It’s a dish that takes a lot of work. Almost... two months, maybe?"
Like the babies in other households, the twins especially loved food their wife made with her own hands.
Aqua’s eyes sparkled as he swallowed his saliva and said,
"I’m, like, really hungry now. Hamburger steak made by Mom!"
"Hahaha. Mom probably made a lot. Just wait a little. We’re almost there."
"Yes!"
Kaoru turned on the blinker and smoothly steered into the first lane, then—at just the right moment—slightly lowered the radio volume and asked casually,
"Did you help Kana-chan with her rehearsal?"
"Uh... no. I didn’t really help. I was just looking around the company building and happened to walk into the practice room."
"I see. I see."
"Yes."
After that short reply, Aqua looked out the car window for a moment.
Then he continued,
"She seemed to be worrying a lot about tomorrow’s shoot."
"Hmm..."
"So I added a few words, though I’m not very good at it, and then Dad came in... I guess it’s up to her how she takes it."
Kaoru nodded and smiled.
He thought that worrying about acting as an actor was practically a fate of its own.
That was true for Aqua, and for Kana as well.
Rather than a pink romance, it had been actor to actor. A meeting that was business itself.
It was somehow a little disappointing, but still—Aqua helping that Arima Kana out was nothing short of admirable.
"Good job. It probably helped, and Kana-chan will definitely be grateful."
At his father’s praise, Aqua gave an awkward smile and nodded.
"...Yes."
It wasn’t a lie; he really was grateful, and he hadn’t done it expecting anything in return.
He simply honestly hoped it would help.
Because then, at Arima Kana’s final shoot, his 【favorite】 would be able to film an even more perfect scene.
In a way, it was mutually beneficial.
Anyway, that was how it was.
"I’m hungry."
Aqua’s blue eyes, tinged with fatigue and hunger, sparkled in the fading Tokyo sunset.
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