At Miyako’s command, President Ichigo snatched up the remote like a rookie who had just been assigned to a unit and swish—turned up the volume.
Even though this was the Hoshino family’s home, there wasn’t the slightest hesitation in President Ichigo’s quick movements.
Ruby, glaring with fierce eyes at President Ichigo’s cringey, awkward, doting-husband act, said in a quiet voice to her brother,
"Was he always this obedient when it came to Myaemon?"
"...If he doesn’t do some showy score-boosting like this, his later years are going to be pretty shaky—"
"Hey, you brat! I can hear you!"
At the evil twin siblings openly badmouthing him right to his face, President Ichigo snapped and jabbed a furious finger at them.
Even with the middle-aged man’s sorrowful cry, begging them to abandon their arrogant assumption that they’d stay forever young, no one took President Ichigo’s side.
"Hmm-hmm-hmm-★ Since it starts after the commercial break, I should go get the Häagen-Dazs!"
"Mama! Me too, me too!"
"Amber wants some too!"
"If you eat now, you’ll get fa..."
"Piiieeeng-!" "Brother is an idiot-!"
Ruby and Amber, cutting off their brother’s warning with baby-rabbit shrieks, followed their mother into the kitchen.
In the noisy household, Kaoru, the introvert who had been sitting quietly in a corner of the sofa with Amber on his lap, smiled faintly.
As he kneaded Amber’s plump belly and cheeks, the TV commercial was almost over.
Seeing their father as the model in the TV ad—
"Daddy-! Oh~ it’s Daddy!"
"Hahaha. Yeah, Amber. It’s Daddy."
"Waa?! Waa!! It’s Daddy!"
At their youngest son’s adorable behavior, his round eyes darting back and forth between the father on TV and the father holding him,
Kaoru burst out laughing and used his big hand to cup and rub the little boy’s chubby cheeks.
- Treasure your time!
Along with the commercial music for the world-famous luxury cosmetics brand his wife modeled for, his wife’s voice came through as the narration.
At the same moment, Kaoru and Aqua looked at each other!
Kaoru called out toward his wife and two daughters, who were in the kitchen debating which Häagen-Dazs flavor to eat.
"It looks like it’s about to start!"
"Come quickly!"
"Eh!? Y-yeah! Then, today... let’s have chocolate!"
"Yeah! Chocolate is awesome too, Mama!"
"Amber approves too! Uhihi~"
Thump thump thump
In truth, it had been Ai’s one-sided struggle of a negotiation... but the three mother and daughters, having somehow(?) settled the dramatic ice cream-flavor agreement, ran over together and plopped down on the sofa.
After the cosmetics commercial, more commercials featuring Ai as a model aired one after another.
"What~? When does it start~?"
Even while watching a commercial she herself appeared in, Ai muttered in a flat, dissatisfied voice while munching on Häagen-Dazs.
Wasn’t this just a little too long for a commercial break?
Just as her brilliant starry eyes began to narrow slightly, and dissatisfaction started to simmer even in the sweetness of the Häagen-Dazs—
- This program (kono bangumi wa)...
"Hehe~! It’s starting!"
"It’s startiiing~!"
Miyako, who had already finished a can of beer, threw both hands up and shouted.
Hina, held in her arms, also shouted with an excited voice.
And then—finally!
- ♩♪~
A colorful OST made up of a string ensemble with a sad, heavy atmosphere began to play—
and with Gotanda’s signature still, calm visual style, it instantly maximized the viewers’ immersion.
Even though it was only the intro footage of the cast passing by while acting faithfully according to their role concepts, the ominous atmosphere and mise-en-scène shattered the expectations of most viewers, who had simply thought it would be a "romance and love-triangle drama."
"Waaah...."
Ruby, staring blankly with her mouth open as she absorbed the drama’s intro, let out an exclamation.
At the end of the intro, Kaoru in a black suit and Ai in a white dress appeared, their hands stained with blood yet still firmly clasped together as they stared straight at the camera—
and then the drama began immediately.
[The Bird in the Cage]
Episode 1
Clatter!
Thud
"Kyaa!"
"Oh my—ah, that startled me!"
"Amber, scared."
Along with the sudden sound of a chair toppling over, the screen briefly showed a pair of men’s shoes swaying in midair, then quickly faded out.
Exaggerated sound effects were also one of Director Gotanda’s favorite techniques.
Of course, every now and then, the startled victims(?) would clutch their chests and grumble that this was basically a horror movie.
"......"
But Aqua, who hadn’t blinked once and was focused on the screen no matter what sounds came from around him, decided that he absolutely had to own this drama’s DVD no matter what.
This drama, combining Director Gotanda’s proud filming style and directing techniques, along with mise-en-scène and the outstanding performances of the cast, would become the absolute best "textbook" he had ever hoped for.
- Our plane will be landing at Haneda Airport shortly. Passengers, please...
With the plane’s announcement, a view of Haneda Airport appeared on screen—
and the back of Kaoru walking was shown large on the screen, then gradually receding until his upper body came into view—and then farther still, his lower body and suitcase as well.
"It’s Daddy!"
"Kyaa! Honey-★"
Amber and Ai, munching on Häagen-Dazs, shouted at the same time. Ruby forgot all about eating her ice cream and stared blankly at Papa on the TV, her mouth hanging open.
Director Gotanda’s delicate camera work, along with the cut transitions that arranged everything neatly in chronological order, further heightened the viewers’ immersion.
「Hiroki」, wearing glasses as he walked, glanced around the noisy airport for a moment.
Skin so white it looked almost pale. Tired eyes, as if he hadn’t slept properly. A neat hairstyle with his brilliant, abundant blond hair combed back in a side part, though his tie was slightly crooked.
" ...... "
Emotionless, like someone whose soul had dried up—
the camera captured a close-up of 「Hiroki」’s face in glasses. His eyes remained fixed without wavering, as if looking straight at the camera in front of him, and beyond it, the viewers watching themselves on TV.
And then—
"...Welcome to Tokyo."
「Hiroki」 muttered briefly in a voice so weary it was almost indifferent, then walked past the camera and straight ahead.
At Kaoru’s acting, which had begun perfectly carrying the drama in just one minute of screen time—
"Kyaaaah-★ Wha- what-! What do we do!"
Smack smack!
"Ow! That hurts, Ai?!"
"Ch- cheating! Ch---eating! That’s cheating!"
At his husband’s neat, handsome appearance in glasses, contrasted with the languid, worn-out atmosphere in his eyes—
Ai, feeling sexiness that exceeded her limit, blushed and kept smacking her husband’s thick forearm with her palm.
Seeing it with her own eyes on set was already the best, but the moment she saw the carefully edited and color-corrected footage, she simply couldn’t contain herself.
Ai, deciding that tonight she would immediately take out the prop glasses she had tucked into a drawer and make her husband wear them, rubbed her head against his shoulder and made her starry eyes sparkle.
Of course, the four siblings, including Amber in her father’s arms as if she were used to it, and the entire Saito family, were all focused on the drama without a moment to spare.
「Fukumoto Hiroki」 headed straight to his father-in-law’s company in Minato Ward as soon as he returned to Japan.
A massive skyscraper standing in the center of Tokyo’s commerce and wealth.
He was there to report his return to 「Fukumoto Kenta」, his father-in-law and the head of the 「Fukumoto Group」.
The atmosphere of the story changed in an instant. Fast-tempo BGM that stirred tension. The sound of several shoe heels echoing through a wide hallway, heavy with pressure.
Small in build, but with cold, bloodless eyes, 「Fukumoto Kenta」 led the executives and strode without hesitation toward his office.
"Waaah."
"Whoa, that look— scary..."
At the sharp-eyed glare of 「Fukumoto Kenta」, played by Kunimura on TV, Ruby shrank her shoulders slightly and muttered, overwhelmed by his presence.
It was no different for 「Fukumoto Hiroki」 standing before the office, whose Adam’s apple bobbed.
Off-screen, Kaoru’s vivid facial acting, making viewers feel the tension in every split second, drew them in completely.
Ignoring the son-in-law waiting outside the office, 「Fukumoto Kenta」 passed through the office door that the secretaries had opened for him.
The executives who had stopped there all bowed forward at once, and 「Fukumoto Hiroki」 immediately walked into the office.
The moment the secretaries closed the door, 「Hiroki」 bowed his waist to 90 degrees and said,
"I hope you have been well, 「Chairman」."
"......"
The surrounding noise, deliberately left unprocessed, flowed 그대로 through the TV speakers.
That alone was more than enough as a device to maximize 「Fukumoto Kenta」’s personality—showing him cold and bloodless, giving no reply at all to his son-in-law’s greeting.
An uneasy silence. With his hands in his pockets, he looked out over Tokyo’s vast skyline, then sat in the chair and picked up a pen.
"I hope you’ll consider your transfer to the Shibuya branch a fortunate thing. I want you to remember that this is the last chance you’re getting because you’re my son-in-law."
"......"
"You’re smart, so I’m sure you understand what I mean."
At his chilly voice, the cheek muscles of 「Hiroki」, who had clenched his teeth for an instant, twitched.
Fear, and yet hatred and anger.
"Did you contact 「Mami」?"
"Yes. She said she was at the department store, so I thought we could just have a simple dinner at a restaurant in the evening..."
"The secretarial staff will guide you to the restaurant I booked."
And then, as if refusing any further comment—he withdrew his cold gaze and wordlessly ordered him out.
He had arranged a restaurant instead, but that was by no means a favor for his son-in-law.
It was, quite simply, an expression of selfish affection for his own daughter.
"...Yes, 「Father」."
Kaoru, who felt that more painfully than anyone else, bowed his waist and answered, showing on his face not the hatred and anger surging inside him—something no one would ever see anyway—but the humiliation of forcibly turning his father-in-law’s favor toward his wife into something he could claim as his own.
"...Wow."
Miyako, who had been staring blankly at the drama, let out an exclamation.
Ai, Ruby, and Amber were completely absorbed in the drama, not even noticing that their Häagen-Dazs had melted away.
Aqua’s blue eyes shone as he watched, diligently observing every detail so he wouldn’t miss a single moment of his father’s acting.
The most impressive thing was his father’s subtle expressiveness—how he conveyed humiliating rage by clenching his teeth and twitching his cheek muscles.
That is something you can never show outside the camera. Father can clearly picture and see through exactly what kind of image each of his performances will become when captured by the camera.
It was far too obviously his father’s own acting style to say it had merely been directed by Gotanda.
While the eldest son was deep in analysis, Kaoru gently rose from the sofa and headed to the room to lay Amber down in bed, since she had fallen completely asleep.
The moment Kaoru went into the room, the scene cut immediately to a funeral parlor for his close friend.
"You came, Hiroki hyung? Sob sob—! Ughhh— Hyung, hyung... our hyung can’t just go like this so pointlessly..."
"......"
That funeral parlor was, in the story, the wake arranged after 「Fukumoto Hiroki」’s close friend committed suicide.
But he did not cry, and only quietly comforted the bereaved with an indifferent face.
Even while speaking with the younger brother of the close friend he had known among the bereaved family, Kaoru still kept his expression impassive.
"...Why isn’t he crying? He said they were really close friends..."
At her father’s unnaturally composed appearance on screen, Ruby tilted her head and muttered in a puzzled voice, sensing something strange.
Hearing her daughter’s voice, Ai quietly munched on her Häagen-Dazs and said in a low voice,
"Maybe... it’s because he’s too sad."
Her brilliant starry eyes, fixed on Kaoru’s face on the screen, drifted far away for a moment, as if looking into a memory from the past.
At her mother’s cryptic remark, Amber tilted her head and asked,
"Too sad? Why? If you’re sad, tears just come out and you cry, don’t they?"
"Mm~ Normally, that’s true... but hehe, sometimes if you’re too sad, you even forget to cry."
"Eeh~? That’s hard~! Can you really forget to cry?"
Was it an emotion still too difficult for little Amber to understand, no matter how many books she read?
With her usual playful smile, Ai stroked her youngest daughter’s smooth purple hair.
"That’s why, hehe~ Mama hopes Amber keeps finding it hard to understand. Amber’s happiest face is the prettiest~!"
"Puhuhhe-! Mama’s smiling face is the prettiest too!"
"Ruby’s too!"
Even amid the cheerful laughter of the three mother and daughters, 「Hiroki」’s face on screen remained cold and dry.
It was hard to believe he was someone who had accepted his close friend’s death and even gone to the funeral parlor.
"......"
Leaving his car behind and walking out of the funeral parlor, 「Hiroki」 wandered aimlessly down Shibuya Boulevard. Following his gaze, the screen naturally transitioned to show 「Hiroki」 and his deceased close friend, as child actors, laughing and chatting while walking into an arcade.
It was a place filled with happy memories, but now it was nothing more than a faded recollection of the past.
The arcade also vanished like dust through CG, and the scene naturally shifted to the present, where a convenience store now stood there.
"Oh!?"
"Ah!?"
Kiiing—!
It had flashed by so quickly that it would have been very hard for an ordinary person to notice, but for the AkuRuby siblings, who possessed superhuman ability in all physical phenomena(?) related to their 【favorite】, spotting their mother’s figure inside the convenience store as it passed by frame by frame was not difficult at all.
Like a mysterious dōjutsu filled with the power of a certain ninja manga, the siblings’ eyes gleamed like lasers as they slipped down from the sofa, leaned their bodies against the table with a thwack, and stared at the TV.
"Puhuhit-★"
At the twins’ adorable behavior, Ai let out a snicker, then after putting Amber to sleep and walking out of the room, Kaoru brought a finger to his lips in a shh gesture and pointed with his eyes toward the TV and the twins.
"Ah."
"...★"
Quick on the uptake, Kaoru erased his presence and slipped onto the sofa beside Amber.
While he had been putting Amber to sleep, the drama had already progressed to the middle portion.
The scene where he meets his wife is coming up soon. In the early part of filming, how hard had he worked not to give off a "married couple" vibe?
Glancing at his wife, he saw that Ai, too, seemed to be recalling the time they filmed that scene, her starry eyes glowing even more brightly than usual.
"Welcome!"
As Hiroki entered the convenience store, Ai, having finished stocking the shelves and returned to the counter, greeted him with a smile.
At last, the historic first encounter of the married couple had taken place!
"Mama!?"
"Wooaaah-!!! Amazing!"
"We have to capture this no matter what! Definitely keeping this forever!"
Even without makeup, and with no special hairstyling, just wearing the uniform convenience-store part-timers wore, she was overflowing with enough appeal to make the twins practically die of fangirl overload.
While the AkuRuby siblings simultaneously pulled out their smartphones and started snapping photos like crazy—
「Hiroki」 in the drama gave no reply to her greeting and simply swept his complex gaze across the convenience store.
He silently walked to the bento section with a face cast in shadow.
He picked up any bento, brought it over, and set it on the counter.
"Ugh, that bento is really the worst. It’s totally full of cheap retort meat...!"
Watching the drama, Miyako let out a sigh and looked at Kaoru with a gaze that seemed to ask why he had chosen something like that of all things.
Kaoru could only give an awkward smile under his mother-in-law’s reproachful eyes.
I just picked whatever was there....
"That’ll be 410 yen."
"...."
Ignoring her kind smile as she scanned the barcode, 「Hiroki」 rummaged inside his suit, then with a sudden "Ah—!" of realization, hurriedly searched through the pockets of his suit jacket.
Through a quick scene transition, the drama showed 「Hiroki」’s past self leaving his wallet in the car, then returned to the present, where regret clouded his blue eyes.
"I-I’m sorry. My wallet... I left my wallet in the car. I—"
"Oh, it’s okay! You can go get it and come back..."
"Ah— no, I’m sorry. I parked the car pretty far away, so it’ll take some time to go back and forth."
「Hiroki」 kept bowing over and over, apologizing in a tone that was more than merely awkward—it was genuinely apologetic.
She gave him an awkward smile in response to his excessive apologies.
But still.
Even so, Ai’s delicate emotional acting—feeling a strange pull, or perhaps curiosity, toward this unfamiliar customer—completely captured the viewers’ attention.
"Sir. Then... I’ll pay for it for you, so when you have time, would you come back and return it?"
"Huh? Ah, no, I can’t possibly impose like that—"
At 「Hiroki」’s flustered waving of his hands, she smiled gently and shook her head, deftly operating the register with practiced hands.
"It’s fine. What’s more important than making sure you eat during the day?"
"......"
"Don’t worry about it, enjoy your meal, and then—410 yen! Please come back and pay me back for it!"
Before long, she had briskly finished the payment on her own and, with her signature bright starry smile, held the bento out to him with both hands.
At her action, 「Hiroki」 accepted the bento politely, his blue eyes wavering with confusion and surprise.
Holding the bento in one hand and adjusting his glasses with the other in an awkward motion—
she pointed toward the back with one hand and said with a smile,
"Hehe— then enjoy! The microwave is over there."
"Ah, yes— thank you."
After bowing his head awkwardly once more, 「Hiroki」 headed toward the microwave corner.
And then the scene changed again—
"......"
Leaving the convenience store and walking back toward his car, 「Hiroki」 looked down at the bento and the disposable chopsticks in his hands.
As his thumb brushed over the plastic lid of the bento—
"...Ha."
For the first time since the drama began, a faint smile appeared on his face.
Kaoru and Ai, watching the TV, both wore strange smiles and turned to exchange glances with each other.
They were quite satisfied. It felt as if they had returned to the fresh, youthful emotions of when they first met in the troupe long ago.
"..."
"...★"
"Kyaaa...! Ah, why is my face getting hot? Ah~ what do I do—ah~! This is crazy. This is way too dangerous...!"
Her father’s delicate yet adorable side, and her mother’s gentle yet innocent smile.
Ruby, her heart ticklish and her face burning red, covered her face with both hands and muttered to herself.
It wasn’t just the familiar, affectionate everyday life of her parents, whom she really did see every day—
it was the insane chemistry of her parents, acting as completely different characters and creating a fluttering, almost-touching tension that made her heart race—
"Heheh-♥"
Amber, too, wore a slack, happy smile and tightly held the hands of her mother and father seated on either side of her, bouncing her feet up and down like she was on a swing.
"Ah~ how wonderful... This is the part where things are so good. Now, as he goes to return the money, the flirting starts.... Hehe~"
"......"
As Miyako, patting Hina asleep in her arms, recalled a good time from the past and muttered with a wistful look in her eyes, President Ichigo, who was inwardly starting to feel guilty about his own past conduct, sipped his beer while watching Miyako’s reaction.
Kaoru, who had rubbed the head of his younger sister still in her "Ruby doesn’t know, doesn’t know" mode against his shoulder, chuckled and said,
"The drama isn’t over yet, Ruby. We have to keep watching."
"Ah, right! We have to watch! Hehe! Mama, Papa! This is so, so fun—!!!"
"Heheh~★ It’s still too early to be surprised!"
Ai answered her adorable daughter with a starry wink.
However—
"......"
The screen changed, and the story’s timeline shifted to evening.
At the upscale restaurant that 「Fukumoto Kenta」 had booked on his own.
「Fukumoto Mami」, played by Yoshikawa Yuriko, walked over from afar with a cold, icy expression just like her father’s—
and 「Hiroki」 stared at her for a moment before letting out a low sigh.
With the precise camera placement, 「Hiroki」’s face reflected in the glass window was captured on screen as well.
When he stood up, 「Mami」 ignored him completely, tossed her luxury handbag carelessly onto the table, and sat down.
"...You came back to Japan and didn’t even contact me once?"
She ruled over people.
One who did not lower her gaze.
「Fukumoto Mami」, who had inherited her father’s bloodlessness most perfectly, sent out a cold thorn instead of a single kind word, regardless of whether her standing husband was there or not.
Director Gotanda’s signature still wide shot, with its panoramic angle, made it feel as if only the two of them existed in the vast restaurant.
The BGM, made up of a tense, unstable string ensemble so high it felt like nails scraping across a blackboard, rose gradually in step with 「Fukumoto Mami」’s emotions.
Their meeting, so tense it was hard to believe they were married. 「Fukumoto Mami」’s cold, bloodless eyes flashed sharp as a blade for an instant.
"Hwaah."
At the savage glare that overwhelmed the room, Amber, who was now sitting on her father’s lap, let out an exclamation.
And then—
「Hiroki」 and 「Mami」’s faces appeared on screen at the same time—
- ♬♪
The OST played, and the ending arrived perfectly at the climax!
"Aah!?"
"I-it’s already over?"
So absorbed that they hadn’t noticed at all that episode 1 was ending this way, Ruby and Aqua simultaneously looked up at the wall clock and let out disappointed cries—
"You were bragging that we should trust you, and you really did sharpen your blade."
followed President Ichigo’s assessment, as he sat in silence holding Hina in his arms in place of his wife.
Since he had taken off his sunglasses, President Ichigo’s gaze was blazing with an unmistakably fierce intensity.
The head of an entertainment agency, with the seasoned eye and experience to see through latent value, had easily grasped that Gotanda had quite literally "sharpened his blade."
So that was the reason he could boast so confidently over the phone.
"Huu... how are we supposed to wait until next week...?"
Miyako, her face flushed from drinking two cans of beer in a row, laid her head on her husband’s thigh and complained.
How were they supposed to wait until next week!
That was true for their youngest daughter Amber as well.
"...Mama! Papa! What happens next week? Huh? Can’t you tell just me?"
"Eh!? Kyaahahat-! Amber~! You’re that curious?"
"Yeah, I’m curious..."
"Ruby’s curious toooo! Mama!"
"Hm? You two watched the script while helping your father and mother rehearse... didn’t you?"
Kaoru asked, tilting his head, and Amber and Ruby both glared at their father at the same time and said,
"Reading it in a book and watching it on TV are different!"
"Exactly, exactly! I want to see live, moving Mama and Papa flirting with each other all fluttery and fast—!!!"
"Ahh... I-I see. Haha—"
At the murderous(?) aura from his two daughters, Kaoru flinched and let out an awkward laugh.
Apparently, unlike him, who viewed the finished drama from the perspective of an "evaluation," his family was at the point of stomping their feet in excitement regardless of any "evaluation" at all.
It was something to be grateful and happy about as both a father and a cast member, but... more than expected...
"......"
"W-what is it, Aqua?"
"It’s nothing."
Just like when he looked at 「Fukumoto Hiroki」 in the drama, his son Aqua was staring at him with a strange look.
"......Ah, if only someone would knock me out cold for just one week..."
And Miyako, lying with her head on President Ichigo’s thigh and staring at him, said the same thing.
And then...
"......"
"......"
Even his wife, who after the scene with Yuriko had somehow begun looking at him with a sulky starry gaze and saying nothing at all.
‘No way?’
Kaoru’s eyes shifted subtly left and right as he sensed the strangely drifting atmosphere, and he hurriedly let out an awkward laugh, clasped his wife’s hand tightly for all to see, and explained himself.
"D-drama is just drama, isn’t it? Hahaha! It’s already next week before you know it, and time passes quickly. Haha, it’s only eight episodes. In two months it’ll be over..."
But.
"......"
The silence of his family, all staring at him without a word.
Kaoru had a bad feeling that something had gone very wrong.
"I’ll be waiting to see what you say about Mama next week, Papa!"
"R-Ruby?!"
At the aftereffects of a family that had become extremely, very, massively over-immersed in a drama that had only just finished episode 1,
his blue eyes trembled violently.
Grip!
The brutal strength he felt in his hand.
Because such tremendous force was being exerted from a hand not even half the size of his own, Kaoru swallowed hard and turned to look at his wife.
"Mm-★ I guess, maybe... just a liiittle bit...?"
Her eyes flashing with brilliant [star light], as if a supernova had exploded.
Kaoru asked back with a dazed face.
"...Huh??"
What, what?
Sure, they had appeared in the drama together. Sure, they had become close colleagues and easygoing friends with Yuriko.
But as a 「woman」 and as a 「wife」,
when it came to matters involving the beloved 「husband」, she was not just incapable of being "cool"—she became endlessly petty, and in the end, the boundary between "public" and "private" became endlessly blurred...
"Heheh-★"
Maybe— that was only natural?
"......Haha."
At the family’s unexpected over-immersion—
Kaoru swallowed down his resentment toward Director Gotanda, wondering what kind of monstrous work he had created, and...
wanted to cry.
I dont think Ame's name is in this chapter once its all mixed up with amber