"You suddenly left school early without contacting anyone. Do you know how worried Mom was...?"
Like an angry rabbit, the child puffed out her cheeks and lifted her brilliant starry eyes to look at the twin siblings.
"Uu, I’m sorry, Mama."
"...I’m sorry."
Overwhelmed by the aura of those brilliant starry eyes, Aqua and Ruby sat politely in their chairs with their heads bowed, unable to say a word.
Whatever the reason, they had done something wrong, and there was nothing they could say to excuse it.
Making their [favorite] worry so much was definitely something they should never do as both children and fans.
They had always wanted to protect that [smile].
Especially Ruby, the one who had led the charge in the feigned-sickness early dismissal, realized how thoughtless she had been and could not bear to look at her mother.
But soon the child looked at the twins and asked in a trembling voice, concern and tenderness mixed together.
"So—really, you’re not hurt? Akuu-chan, Ruby-chan. Really, nobody’s hurt?"
"Mhm... really, I’m fine, Mama! Actually, it was all fake from the very beginning. I was trying to fool the school nurse and homeroom teacher... mmph!"
"Yes. Don’t worry, Mom. Ruby and I are both healthy. We thought they’d keep investigating until we arrived, so we couldn’t contact you first. I’m sorry."
Aqua, covering Ruby’s mouth with his left hand, did his best to reassure their mother, who was full of worry and anxiety.
"Phew... I’m so glad you’re not hurt...."
The reason the child, who had never once gotten angry at the twin siblings, had scolded them so fiercely was not the "feigned-sickness early dismissal" itself, but because she had spent that short time worrying over how much they might have been hurting.
Even now, that day still remained a vivid memory to her—when she had rushed to the emergency room in the middle of the night, holding little Ruby, who was burning with fever.
The child was still an imperfect, scatterbrained, mistake-prone [mother] who lacked so much.
But she absolutely did not want to become a "bad" [mother] who could not care for her babies’ health.
In childhood, to the child who had been abused and neglected by the [mother] who should have been her whole world, then ultimately abandoned to an institution.
The twin siblings were always the medium through which she projected her own childhood, and at the same time the most precious [miracle] in this world—something that made her vow never to let them suffer the same pain again.
Now she was an [adult] mature enough to gather her breath, step back, and look back on her painful and lonely past from a distance.
But when it came to the babies’ health, she was still a fearful and anxious [mother].
"Uu... Mama, I’ll never fake being sick again.... Ruby was wrong...."
As those brilliant starry eyes swayed with sorrow, Ruby finally sprang up from her chair and approached her mother with a tearful voice.
Like a puppy drenched by rain, her beloved daughter came toward her in tears, and the child’s starry eyes began to glisten with tears of their own, her heart aching with pity and distress.
But then a sudden worry rose up—that if she didn’t reassure her beloved daughter, Ruby might become deeply discouraged and hurt because of her.
'Don’t cry. I’m a [mother]!'
She bit her lip and held back her tears, then put on a bright, star-like smile and stood from her chair to pull Ruby into a tight hug.
"Mom’s okay. If Ruby isn’t hurt, then that alone is enough to put Mom at ease, you know? Hehehe—Ruby’s in [adolescence] now too~ I can understand feigned-sickness early dismissal!"
"Uu..."
"Now, Akuu-chan, will you come to Mom too? You have to give me a 'I’m home' hug—★"
"Yes!"
Aqua realized that their brightly smiling mother was actually holding back tears for Ruby’s sake.
The moment the words left her mouth, Aqua immediately stood from his chair and wrapped both his sister and mother in a tight embrace.
"Hehe...! Mom ended up getting hugged like a baby~★"
"Mm... but... still, Mama’s hug is the best in the world...."
The twin siblings had grown so much taller than her now.
Ruby hugged her once, and then Aqua hugged her again from above, leaving her snugly wrapped up like a baby rabbit.
If other people saw it, it would be an unbearably cute sight.
But the twins, who had once been newborn babies, had grown to roughly the age when she herself had given birth for the first time, and their bodies were growing up strong and well.
Overwhelmed by happiness that surged up through every other emotion, the child ended up beaming with a full starry smile.
"E-eh, this might make Papa a little sad?"
"...This time, I’ll admit it."
Quietly seated in the table chair as if he were barely there, Kaoru watched the hug with a satisfied expression and nodded.
For the sake of his beloved wife and children... even being pushed into second place made him happy.
'Please, let it not be anything too serious....'
Why had the twins, now that [adolescence] had arrived, chosen the somewhat cute method of feigned-sickness early dismissal instead of something more extreme?
'If anything, I’m relieved.'
In any case, for now, even if he asked why, it would be difficult to get a good answer.
'Adolescence, huh... so now we’re parents of teenage children.'
He himself, who had regained his memories after living long enough in his past life, and his wife, who had suffered a miserable childhood and been pushed to her psychological limit while working as an idol—looking back, both of them had grown up through very rough teenage years. Maybe that was why they had been drawn to each other even more.
In the end, humans become [adults] only after overcoming the most intense growing pains of [adolescence].
Even if you act drunk on the role of a "woke adult" who knows your children better than anyone, unless you have some kind of superpower that can read their hearts, it’s only natural that you can’t judge them carelessly.
Even Kaoru, who had survived countless brushes with death in his past life and gone through all sorts of things in this one, found it very difficult to discern his children’s true feelings.
When the beloved children were struggling and staggering, a reliable [adult] should be there to support them, or else approach them first so they can share their worries and talk things through together.
He and his wife both wanted to become such [adults], and they had done their best to become that way.
That was why Kaoru deliberately said nothing further and sat quietly beside his wife until she and the babies had opened their hearts and embraced each other.
Since the first button had come undone safely, Kaoru decided to proceed step by step with his wife. He stood from his chair, clapped once, smiled, and said,
"All right. Honey, Aqua, Ruby. It’s about lunchtime, so you must be hungry, right? Specially today, Dad will make omurice for lunch. How about it?"
The child, nestled in Aqua and Ruby’s arms, nodded with firm resolve at the signal her husband sent her with his eyes.
"Waaah-★ I love the omurice Kaoru makes!"
With her mother’s happy smile and the warm hug easing her heart, Ruby also wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes and nodded.
"Mm... Ruby loves the omurice Papa makes too."
Reassured by Ruby’s response, Aqua also smiled and said,
"I like it too."
"Good. Then it’s unanimous: omurice for lunch. Shall we get started right away? Aqua, Ruby! Can you help me out?"
"Yeah. Ah, Papa!"
"What is it?"
Ruby let go of the hug with her mother, whom she had been clinging to, then trotted over and jumped into her father’s broad arms.
"...Papa, I’m sorry."
"Haha, as long as Ruby isn’t hurt and is okay, Dad feels just as relieved as Mom. You must be hungry, so let’s make omurice and eat something tasty, okay? Hmm?"
At her father’s gentle, comforting voice—so much like her mother’s—Ruby’s just-dried tears threatened to well up again.
Because of this stupid worry, she felt guilty for making her parents worry, and that guilt pricked at her heart like thorns.
But not wanting to lose this brief peace, Ruby, like a baby bird, deliberately rubbed her head harder against her father’s chest.
"......Mm."
"......"
Aqua could not easily ignore the deepening thoughts that were gathering as he watched his sister and father hug.
Their parents still didn’t know why Ruby had decided to leave school early by pretending to be sick.
He was certain he understood Ruby’s heart better than anyone when it came to not wanting to worry their parents—but if Ruby’s worries remained unresolved and time kept passing, it would clearly be bad for both Ruby and their parents.
Even though she had left school early by pretending to be sick without saying a word, their parents hadn’t said a single harsh thing.
Instead, they were relieved it had been feigned sickness and were doing their best to understand and comfort her, weren’t they?
'For now, I think I need to tell them quietly, depending on the situation.'
For Ruby’s sake and for their parents’ sake, Aqua decided he would need to take a more active stance, and he finished his thoughts with his blue eyes shining.
"Then I’ll go get Amber. She probably woke up for feeding time."
"Yes. Then I’ll start with the onions, Dad!"
The child, who had been gently patting her son’s shoulder, headed to the room to see Amber, and Aqua soon went to the kitchen as well.
Kaoru and Ruby also headed to the kitchen and began preparing in earnest to make omurice.
"Mamma- pappa- big sis- big bro-"
"Hee~?! Amber-chan got them all right~! Is it because she takes after Mom and is a genius?"
Amber, carried out in the child’s arms, sucked on her pacifier while putting on a little talent show(?).
The twins’ starry eyes flashed like supernovas at the cuteness of their youngest sibling, who was so adorable they wanted to bite her.
Kaoru, frying the rice with ketchup, smiled as he watched Amber in his wife’s arms while the twins played with her.
Before long, the omurice was finished, and the Hoshino family shared a meal together for the first time in a while on a weekday lunch rather than a holiday.
The twins still felt a little sad about Ame’s empty seat, but since they’d see her when she got home from school in the afternoon, they decided to focus on the meal for now.
"Thank you for the meal!"
"Thank you for the meal."
Ruby and Aqua said at the same time as they set down their spoons.
Seeing the twins eat so well, Kaoru and Ai smiled with pride and delight as they watched the twins carry their plates away—then,
"...!"
"...★"
they exchanged a silent look and nodded at the same time.
Kaoru stood from his chair and, holding a plate, quietly approached Aqua.
"Ahem, um—son?"
"Yes?"
As his son was putting down his plate and about to finish drinking his water, Kaoru said with a gentle smile,
"How about going out with Dad for a little outing after a long time? Bring your glove and baseball too, and we can play catch. What do you think?"
"Play catch?"
In Aqua’s blue starry eyes, an unmistakable spark of interest rose up.
Even in his past life, Aqua had enjoyed sports, and among all the games he had played with his father since he was little, catch had by far been the most fun.
"Hehe, yes. Catch. I’m a little sorry to Ruby, but I was thinking it might be nice for the two of us to spend some quiet time together for a bit. Since it’s a feigned-sickness early dismissal, it’s been a while since you’ve had free time on a weekday afternoon, hasn’t it?"
After hearing his father’s words, Aqua fell into thought for a moment.
He felt bad about going out to play catch peacefully with his father while leaving his sister behind with her worries, but...
"Heh-★"
When he saw his mother’s eyes, sparkling with brilliant starlight and staring straight through him like laser beams,
'For some reason... I feel like I have to go out.'
Aqua gave an awkward laugh, sweating coldly.
Yes. With their mother by Ruby’s side, Ruby would also need time to lean on her [favorite] and calmly sort out her thoughts after a long while.
Being held in their mother’s arms was one of the best ways for Ruby to heal, after all.
After finishing his thoughts, Aqua smiled at his father and said,
"Yes! Sounds good."
-
Whoosh—! Chop!
The baseball flew in a smooth arc and landed in the glove as if being sucked into it.
The sound of the baseball hitting the leather glove echoed through the quiet amusement park.
"Our son’s gotten pretty fast, huh? Haha~"
Kaoru, taking the baseball out of the glove and rolling it around in his right hand, said with a smile full of satisfaction and pride.
His throwing form, his speed, and the ball’s trajectory were all clean and flawless.
Aqua, standing about 15 meters away from his father, tried to keep his expression steady the moment he heard the praise, but...
"I-I practiced the way you taught me, Dad."
"Oh, really? Wow... hearing you say that makes Dad really proud."
"Pfft—"
The proud smile he couldn’t quite hide ended up showing plainly at the corners of his mouth.
As always, praise from his father was both the same as and different from praise from his mother.
How should he put it...?
Aqua still wasn’t confident he could properly express this feeling.
But one thing was certain.
For him, living through both his past life and his present life, time with his [father] always felt like fun and enjoyable playtime.
"Let’s keep going."
"Yes!"
Kaoru adjusted his cap, held the baseball in his right hand, and threw it.
The ball traveled a little harder and a little smoother than Aqua’s throw—
Whoosh—! Chop!
—and was sucked neatly into Aqua’s glove as he ran backward.
Kaoru had deliberately put a little extra force into it so it would travel farther, but Aqua, using the natural athleticism he had inherited from both his father and mother, accurately judged the trajectory and distance and cleanly caught the ball.
"Nice catch."
Kaoru murmured softly with a proud smile.
After the father-son catch had continued for a while, the two sat on a nearby bench and drank water they had brought from home.
Aside from the Hoshino family, there weren’t many people at the amusement park, which was located in the suburbs about thirty minutes away by car.
"Haa."
Even though they were sitting on a shaded bench, the weather had grown quite hot as summer approached, so Aqua kept wiping away sweat and drinking water.
Kaoru, newly reminded of just how enormous the metabolism of a growing teenager could be, took a small cooling ice pack out of the insulated bag he had brought from home and gently pressed it against the back of his son’s neck.
"Ack?!"
"Hahaha!"
Startled by the sudden chill at the back of his neck, Aqua jerked upright and cried out.
Kaoru couldn’t hold back his laughter at his son’s cute(?) reaction and burst out laughing.
He reached out and vigorously rubbed Aqua’s head, then, just like his wife often did, playfully squinted one eye and said,
"Sorry, son. Was that a little too much of a prank?"
Aqua was not pleased at all to show such an unfiltered embarrassed reaction to his father’s teasing.
Besides, because the father’s hand was so pleasantly ruffling his hair, Aqua had secretly wanted to play along, and he answered with a flushed face and a grumpy voice.
"Hmph. No, it’s fine. It was so—really refreshing that the heat’s all gone, [father]."
"Hahaha! Sorry, sorry. If you hold this against the back of your neck or your cheek, it should feel much cooler."
Aqua took the ice pack and pressed it to his cheek and the back of his neck.
"Ah... that feels good."
Watching that, Kaoru’s mouth naturally curved into a pleased smile.
The cute expression his son, who had always been so mature since entering middle school, showed now overlapped with the tiny little version of him from childhood.
By next year, these children would already be entering high school.
Kaoru turned his head for a moment and looked up at the sky, clear as if pigments had been dissolved into it.
Fluffy clouds slowly drifted past the sun.
Come to think of it, time really did pass quickly.
The babies had grown up and would soon be high school students, and before long Ame would be entering middle school too.
They had grown up healthy and well. They had followed and trusted their lacking father. He was grateful, proud, and thankful.
And so—
"It’s really fun to come out like this, just the two of us, after so long."
"...Me too, Dad. Thank you."
"What for? I’m the one who should be thanking you more."
"Yuki~! You have to hold Toru-chan’s leash tight~!"
"Mom can hold it, can’t she—!"
"You’ll trip again if you run. Watch where you’re going~"
"......"
"......"
The father and son’s blue eyes, shining brilliantly like the summer sky, turned at the same time toward a family passing by ahead of them, as if by promise.
A boy about Ame’s age walking a little retriever on a leash, and the couple smiling as they followed behind him.
Then the sound of leaves rustling in the wind wrapped around the bench beneath the shade—
and Aqua, having gathered his thoughts in the quiet stillness, turned his gaze back to his father.
"...Dad."
"Yeah, son."
Aqua, kneading the ice pack in both hands, now softened from melting and beaded with water droplets, spoke in a low voice.
"I’m sorry I couldn’t stop Ruby. It’s all my fault."
"..."
Instead of making excuses to defend his own position, his admirable son wanted to take full responsibility for the sake of his precious little sister.
Kaoru wore a faint smile and lightly patted Aqua’s shoulder before nodding.
Sometimes, rather than saying many words, quietly listening and patting someone’s shoulder leaves a deeper meaning behind.
Kaoru did not ask first why Aqua hadn’t stopped Ruby, and he had no doubt there must have been a valid reason.
He trusted his children. If parents can’t trust their children, then who in this world can?
This is the first and last time in a lifetime that the whole world seems unreasonable, and that one rebels against the customs and rules of society and the world set by [adults].
And even apart from that rebelliousness, it is also the time when doubts and fears about one’s future path and life goals reach their peak.
So—
Kaoru took a breath in and let it out, then spoke to his son in a gentle voice.
"Actually, I didn’t expect to have this kind of conversation."
"...?"
"Dad too... when Mom gave birth to you and Ruby at the hospital in Miyazaki Prefecture, I skipped school for several days without permission. Haha, if you think about it... Dad was a kind of 'delinquent' too, huh?"
"A-ah...... th-tha—"
Aqua’s expression, as the memories of his past life surfaced, went blank in an instant.
He nodded like a robot, creaking and stiff, and with a bizarre expression that seemed half-laughing and half-crying, he averted his eyes from his father and broke into a cold sweat.
Come to think of it, although he had been a victim wrongfully attacked by an unidentified assailant and died, his father must have spent truly agonizing days heading to Miyazaki Prefecture because of his sudden disappearance.
Even now, that fact remained a deep, painful sense of guilt for Aqua, who had laid down the karma and ties of his past life.
Kaoru, taking Aqua’s somewhat exaggerated reaction in a different sense, burst into hearty laughter and nodded.
"Hahaha! You were surprised, huh? That’s how it is at first. But once you grow up and look back, you realize that skipping school for a few days is really nothing much.
As you go from being a 'student' to an [adult], you’ll run into all kinds of big and small problems, and sometimes you’ll fall down or cry.
In that sense... faking sickness and leaving school early is definitely a 'wrong' thing to do.
But if you look at your whole life ahead, it’s absolutely not that big a 'wrong', Aqua."
"......"
"I think Aqua and Ruby must have realized something through this incident.
Seeing how sincerely you’re reflecting on what you did wrong puts my mind at ease too... and above all—our son protecting his little sister made me grateful and relieved.
That’s what a real [man] is like."
"......Yes. Thank you, Dad."
At the praise, his son shed his adult composure and blushed like a boy his age, which was both cute and admirable.
So Kaoru naturally moved on to the next step.
"Aqua. If it’s okay, can I ask why you left school early?"
At Kaoru’s question, Aqua’s blue eyes flickered with a slight change.
He had been planning to bring up Ruby’s worries first, timing it carefully—but he hadn’t expected his father to ask first in order to hear the problem out.
'Dad’s curious too... wait, could it be...'
Suddenly Aqua tilted his head.
Coincidentally, his father and himself—and their mother and Ruby—had split into two groups and were spending time separately.
At home were their mother and Ruby, and here were himself and his father. This was no coincidence.
If that was the case, then surely his father had also chosen this place from the start while saying he wanted some "father-son time," already taking this into account.
'They both deliberately separated us because they wanted to ask why we left school early...!'
If their parents had already realized that the real issue lay not in the feigned-sickness early dismissal itself, but in the hidden truth behind it...
"Ha."
Wasn’t it said that no matter how far Son Goku ran, he was still in Buddha’s palm?
Before they were parent and child, they were [adults] who had lived through life first.
Even with the experience of his past life, Aqua could only belatedly—and once again—realize just how much his parents loved [us], and he could only smile.
'There was no need to be so restless about opening the conversation first.'
His parents had reached out first so their child could speak his worries honestly.
For Aqua, who had never experienced a real "family" in his past life and had grown up after being reborn in this life as the child of his [favorite], these were fresh experiences he had never known before, slowly piling up in his memory.
"Dad."
He felt the weight of worry about his sister, which had unknowingly been pressing down on his heart and mind, lighten a little.
If they thought things through together and discussed them, they would definitely find a way.
That advice applied not only to his sister, but to himself as well, as someone who had once been an [adult].
Aqua looked at his father with eyes much clearer than before and said,
"Actually, Ruby’s been worried about whether to give up her dream of becoming an [idol]."
Kaoru’s blue eyes shook 크게 for a moment, then regained their composure and turned forward.
It was a completely unexpected worry.
Why?
But apart from that passing question, every possible scenario and logical inference was instantly assembled and arranged in his mind.
Slowly nodding, Kaoru remained silent for a few seconds before looking back at his son and saying,
"Because of what happened at the filming set last Saturday? Am I right?"
Without needing to ask further, his father’s question, which fully grasped the situation, made Aqua look slightly surprised.
"Ah... yes. That’s right, Dad."
"Then the reason you didn’t stop her from leaving school early this time was for Ruby’s sake too."
"Yes. I’m sorry, Dad. I wanted to solve the problem and help on my own, but... that was greedy. No matter how well I understood Ruby’s worries...... I should have told you both first. That would have been the best thing for Ruby too...."
At Aqua’s self-reproach, his fists clenched, Kaoru shook his head and firmly gripped his son’s shoulder as he said,
"It’s adolescence, isn’t it? I understand perfectly that you were both trying to solve it yourselves. I’m really grateful that you were brave enough to be honest with Dad like this."
"......"
"Ruby... yes, it really is a worry heavy enough that she couldn’t easily tell Mom or Dad about it...."
Sadness swayed in Kaoru’s blue eyes, impossible to hide.
If the beloved daughter’s worry—perhaps even a worry about a [career] that might decide her entire life—had been triggered by something that happened because of him.
What parent could feel at ease after learning that?
Even without hearing the full explanation, it was something he could naturally infer.
Back in the day, when the child said she would return to activities after giving birth and do her first handshake event, Kaoru had...
'Honestly, I was really anxious.'
The memory was vivid of him fiddling with his phone, fretting over whether something bad might happen at that handshake event.
Of course, aside from what happened last Saturday, nothing Kaoru had worried about over the past fifteen years had ever occurred even once.
But Ruby was different.
Ten years ago, when he had been stabbed by Matsui Tadaomi and hospitalized, she had cried in his arms until she was on the verge of collapse.
Even though she had been so shocked and terrified, unlike his wife, the babies had been so young then that he had assumed their memories would have dulled with time.
'Bad memories... are never affected by time.'
Why had he thought that wouldn’t apply to his child?
If it was little Ruby—such a kind and gentle daughter, the one who had decided on her [dream] by looking at her mother and had worked and practiced so hard.
After seeing Saturday’s incident, she must have remembered the painful memory from ten years ago and suffered a huge emotional wound all over again.
"......"
As a [father], it was his own fault for not noticing his child’s pain.
Everything a child does wrong, everything they do well... even their pain, all of it is the parents’ responsibility.
The realization that he had failed to care for the twins’ hearts turned into belated self-reproach and regret, a sharp dagger that stabbed deep into his chest.
Kaoru swallowed the pain and showed no sign of it in front of his son, nodding with a faint smile.
"Yes. It’s definitely a difficult worry. Even I wouldn’t have had the courage to bring it up so easily. Our whole family knows how hard Ruby worked for years to achieve her dream."
"Yes.... That’s why I wanted to help Ruby. No matter what choice Ruby makes, I’ll support her... but if she gives up her dream because of something like this... Ruby, and Mom too...... they’ll be really sad."
At Aqua’s voice, faintly trembling with sincere concern, Kaoru silently nodded.
He couldn’t easily feel at ease about how his wife, who was at home talking with their daughter, would hear this worry and help solve it.
'We should head home a little earlier.'
Since this was not a simple concern, Kaoru decided to talk closely with his wife.
Patting his son’s heavy, worried shoulder, Kaoru winked his left eye and said,
"It’s okay, Aqua. Don’t worry too much. Ruby is a very strong kid, just like Mom."
"...Yes!"
At his father’s firm voice, Aqua nodded with shining blue eyes.
Ruby, the daughter of the [favorite], would not collapse.
The blood of the invincible, strongest, ultimate idol could never lie.
Certainly...
'You’ll get through this, Ruby.'
A gentle summer breeze passed over the father and son sitting on the bench beneath the shade.
-
Not long after the Hoshino father and son had gone out...
"...Waaahhh— Akane nee-chaaaan!"
Lying face-down in an OTL pose on the bed in her room, Ruby clutched her smartphone and wailed pitifully into the air, "Pueeeeeh—"
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