Today will be busy too, but it’ll definitely be a happy day!
She had no doubt about it.
"Hmm-hmm~☆"
"Oh? Did something good happen? You’ve looked cheerful since this morning."
Since she was out handling her official manager duties, Miyako had reset her mindset and asked from the driver’s seat in polite speech while checking the rearview mirror.
Ai hummed under her breath and stroked Ruby’s sleeping head, her starry eyes sparkling.
"Kaoru said he might come by to see me after his schedule ends today~☆"
She might get to see her beloved husband’s face.
She had no doubt of that.
Because Kaoru was always her "invincible husband" who kept every promise he made to her.
Ai smiled happily as she pictured him.
The road was quiet.
There must have been an accident earlier, but repairs were already finished, so they could drive smoothly again.
They had wrapped up the photo shoot beautifully, and even the car was racing without a hitch toward the set.
There were days like that.
Days when, for some strange reason, everything went well.
On days like that, she always felt as if she were the protagonist of the world.
Right now was exactly like that.
With a heart fluttering and overflowing with anticipation, Ai lovingly stroked Aqua’s head as he looked out the window.
Her lovely son, with brilliant blond hair and blue eyes that resembled his father, glittered beautifully.
Ai enjoyed the trip to the set with her twins, whom she loved so much she could have kept them in her eyes without pain, and looked out at the blue autumn sky beyond the window.
Today will be busy too, but it’ll definitely be a happy day!
"...Kaoru?"
The one person who should not have been here.
The one person she should not have run into.
The person who was closest to her in the world, yet at the same time the one who had to stay farthest away.
When her eyes met his, Ai could only freeze in place, as if her heart had dropped with a thud.
In a trembling voice, in a tiny sound barely audible, Ai called Kaoru’s name.
Even Miyako’s startled intake of breath from behind her, and the emotions the twins felt.
All of it, amplified several times more than usual, seeped into her.
"...Pa- mmph!"
"Shh!"
Without even realizing that quick-witted Aqua had clamped a hand over Ruby’s mouth, Ai stared blankly at Kaoru.
Why was he here? The question rose in her mind, but yes. There must be a reason.
Kaoru looked every bit as flustered as she felt.
After all, her husband had always tried to avoid any situation where he might run into her outside.
And yet. Ai could not tear her trembling eyes away from him.
They were supposed to act like strangers at the set and pretend not to know each other.
But Kaoru, walking toward her, kept catching her eye.
How long do we have to keep doing this?
I don’t know either.
At the question that sounded in her head, Ai gave an honest answer even in this chaotic situation.
Her thoughts were all tangled up, and her body wouldn’t move properly.
As Kaoru approached while avoiding her gaze, her eyes, full of confusion and questions, followed him.
Her beloved husband passed by her with a colder face than when they had first met at the troupe, pretending not to know her.
Without the slightest sign of recognition.
As if she were just a complete stranger.
I should be relieved. I should be glad it ended safely without any trouble.
Ai let out a breath of relief, then swallowed hard, trying to hold back the tears that suddenly welled up at the heavy ache rising in her chest.
The person she had wanted to see so badly was passing right by her side.
And she could do nothing.
At the sad reality that they could not even meet each other’s eyes, as if they were people who had done something wrong.
Ai clenched her jaw so hard that her chin began to tremble.
It’s okay.
Kaoru will definitely explain.
Let’s trust Kaoru for now.
Other people’s stares don’t matter. They don’t matter.
I have Kaoru. I have Aqua and Ruby. I’m not alone anymore.
...I’m not alone. I’m not alone.
As Ai repeated those words to herself, she heard-
"...Papa."
Ruby’s voice, as quiet as she could make it, flew clearly into her ear.
It was so small, so tiny, that even Ruby herself might not have heard it.
Her heart sank with a thud, and only then did she finally realize what reality she was facing. At last, everything in her vision became clear.
Why.... Ai exhaled the breath that threatened to burst out as she struggled with all her might to hold back her tears.
Why.
Today was supposed to be a happy day.
Even enjoying a day when things went well, like the happy protagonist she was, and spending time with the person she loved.
Did it all have to be mixed with this cruel reality, with horrible, brutal memories that forced her to realize what kind of life she and her children were living?
Did she have to keep hiding from the world, like someone who had committed a crime?
I don’t know what to do, Kaoru.
Tell me. Answer me. Don’t just pass me by—tell me the answer.
What am I supposed to do?
"..."
As if answering her question, Kaoru, who had been passing by her side, suddenly stopped, slowly turned his head, and met Ai’s eyes.
The blue eyes she had never been able to face met her starry gaze.
"Hi, Ai."
At the violent pounding that swept through her entire body, Ai’s starry eyes shook violently in surprise.
But Kaoru, as always.
Just like the promise they had made once, on that bench in Uminomori Park on a cold, windy day.
The blazing red "starlight" within his blue eyes wrapped warmly around her trembling heart.
"Have you been well?"
Whenever she finished a hard schedule, whenever he played with the twins, whenever she was in a bad mood, whenever she missed him terribly.
His familiar, always longed-for gentle voice, the one that always held her close and whispered in her ear.
"...Yeah. Thanks to you."
In that brief instant, in the pounding of emotions that felt eternal.
At last, Ai’s starry eyes, in response, shimmered with a small tear.
-
"Haa... huh..."
After Ai’s shoot ended, Miyako let out a long sigh, feeling her hands on the steering wheel still tremble.
The day had truly felt like a hundred years.
They had left for the schedule early in the morning, and then even run into Kaoru at the shoot location—something so shocking she could have grabbed her head and started headbanging.
With a face drained of energy, Miyako glanced at the rearview mirror and said,
"...Ai. Are you okay? You’re not hungry, are you?"
"Yeah. I’m fine! But I’m worried about Aqua and Ruby. Aqua, Ruby. Aren’t you hungry?"
"Ruby’s not hungry~"
"I’m okay too."
They were only two years old, and yet they were so well-behaved. Still, Ai was worried, so she quickly took out a small candy box kept in the space under the window and handed some out to the twins.
"Here! Candy."
"Eek~ It’s strawberry!"
"Thank you."
"You can’t swallow it whole, so make sure to let it dissolve slowly, okay?"
Ai unwrapped the candy and put it into her daughter and son’s mouths.
Watching the twins quietly melt the candy in their mouths, she turned her gaze back outside the window and said,
"The fact that Kaoru decided to make a cameo for me... I’m still so shocked my heart keeps pounding."
"Me too. Me too. Me too. If you’re going to surprise people, why pick something that almost makes their liver fall out...?"
"Hehe... but Kaoru didn’t do it with bad intentions."
Honestly. Look at her, still taking her husband’s side.
At Ai’s words, which embraced her son-in-law’s foolish act(?) with love, Miyako let out a resigned sigh and said,
"Right.... Thanks to that, the ratings are going to be amazing. I never imagined he’d drop everything and come running because his wife was making her drama debut."
"That’s why... Kaoru is just so amazing. Did you see it too, Miyako-chan? We ran into each other like that on set, and Kaoru actually greeted me! Eeeek-♥ That’s so Kaoru! He asked me, ‘Have you been well?’ so gently I almost burst into tears right there.... Even the way he greeted me was so... Kaoru-like. He must have been worried about what other people would think.... He said it for me. I..."
Even as she spoke, her throat tightened again, and perhaps deciding it was inappropriate to honestly reveal such weak feelings as a mother to the still-young twins—
Ai stopped speaking, simply stroking Ruby’s head and smiling.
"I... made up my mind again that I’d definitely get through this. Just like Papa, Mama will be brave too. Hehe☆"
"Mama!"
"..."
Aqua quietly let the candy melt in his mouth as he watched Ai and Ruby hug.
Not only Aqua, who had already seen and heard the tabloid report about the love scandal in his previous life.
Ruby had also had a four-year gap, but she had already searched for and learned the backstory behind Kaoru and Ai.
Because of the bad scandal that had happened between Kaoru and Ai before they were born.
Kaoru had retired, then returned about a year later after the death of his twin brother.
So the twins understood better than anyone how much thought and courage had gone into Kaoru’s decision.
If there had been even one reporter there, it could definitely have become a scandal.
And there was no guarantee that the old love scandal, once dismissed as a false report, wouldn’t have resurfaced.
There was no need to make things noisy. Kaoru’s behavior was certainly not the most rational choice. It was an action driven purely by emotion.
However, Aqua did not want to criticize his father’s actions at all.
Rather, greeting Ai at that moment was something only Kaoru could have done.
Because he was Kaoru. Because he was Kaoru, who loved Ai more than anyone else in the world. He had done for their mother what no one else would have dared to do.
Aqua quietly exhaled as he let the candy melt in his mouth.
"..."
Ruby could not forget the image of Ai’s starry eyes, mixed with sadness and happiness, in her mind.
So even in Ai’s arms, she clutched her clothes tightly and buried her face there.
The sweet strawberry flavor filled her mouth, but her feelings were anything but sweet.
Kaoru’s greeting and Ai’s smile.
Neither of them looked happy to Ruby.
Even the sweet words of love, the gaze, the voice, the embrace they whispered at home.
Her precious people had almost passed each other by at the set without even meeting each other’s eyes, forcing themselves to act like strangers.
Thanks to Kaoru’s courage, Ruby’s "oshi" had been able to greet Ai without getting hurt.
But...
"Is it because of me?"
Ruby worried that because of her existence, the two of them would no longer be accepted by the world.
Being born as the child of her oshi had always made her happy, but after watching Kaoru and Ai meet outside the house for the first time, Ruby.
She ended up feeling as if all of that sadness was caused by herself.
Even though Ai kept holding her and cherishing her as always.
Ruby, with her face buried in Ai’s arms, closed her eyes quietly, blaming herself over and over, wondering if all of this was because she had been born a twin.
When Ruby’s arms, tightly wrapped around Ai, began to tremble faintly.
"Hehe, Ruby. Do you like Mama’s arms that much?"
"...Yeah!"
"I’ll hold you tight. Ruby. Want Mama to rock you to sleep?"
"...Yeah."
"Okay. Sleepy-sleepy now. Nn-night-night~"
At Ai’s hand, lovingly patting her back with warmth.
The vague anxiety and self-reproach that had scratched at her heart and muddled her thoughts slowly faded away.
With the warm heat and her beloved mama’s gentle voice.
Ruby, who naturally came to understand how Mama must have felt in Papa’s arms someday,
slipped her eyes shut and surrendered herself to the drowsiness that washed over her.
-
Evening, after the sun had set.
The car carrying Rentaro and Kaoru was as quiet and precarious as a snowstorm.
"..."
Rentaro, whose usual softness had vanished without a trace and whose cool gaze now had a sharp edge as an "industry insider," spoke quietly.
"Why didn’t you tell me?"
"I’m sorry, President."
"...I’m not asking to hear an apology. I’m asking why you did something that the Kaoru I know, the Kaoru you normally are, would never have done."
"..."
Rentaro had been waiting at the set to pick Kaoru up, only to hear from a staff member he had gotten close to that Kaoru and Ai had run into each other there, and he had been left speechless.
It was Ai.
No, he had only been told it was a cameo appearance! He knew she was appearing as a supporting role, but he had naturally assumed their shooting days wouldn’t overlap!
To be honest, Rentaro was upset and angry at Kaoru too, but he was even angrier at himself for failing to coordinate this risk in advance.
For an actor. For an actor who had trusted him and signed with him.
Risk management involving private life had to be coordinated beforehand, whether the matter was true or false.
Even though he knew that better than anyone, he had failed to take any measures for Kaoru.
Rentaro scolded himself for once again failing to show the mature side of himself to Kaoru, who was more than ten years younger than he was, then let out a sigh and spoke in a more composed voice than before.
"I’m sorry, Kaoru. I was angry... yes, I was angry at you too, but I was angry at myself as well. It’s my fault for not checking the schedule for that idol, who is basically a risk to you, in advance. I should have told Director Gotanda to check more thoroughly too."
"No, President. I didn’t tell you on purpose. If you had found out, I knew you’d oppose it like this."
"..."
Rentaro lost his words for a moment and stared ahead at the road while holding the wheel.
Had he driven for about ten seconds? Rentaro spoke again.
"You’d been contacting Ai behind my back the whole time?"
"Yes."
"...Why?"
"Could you pull over for a moment?"
At Kaoru’s calm voice, the emotion that had been about to flare up suddenly died down like a lie.
If it was Kaoru, whom he had spent more than eight months with, then surely. Surely he would explain it in a logical, cool-headed way that Rentaro could accept.
If it was Kaoru, who was smart, perceptive, and always composed.
Definitely.
After pulling over to the shoulder, Rentaro turned on the hazard lights, set the parking brake, and took his hands off the wheel.
"Sss—hoo!"
After calming his shaking heart with a steady breath, he looked at Kaoru and said,
"Are you going to explain?"
"Yes."
Kaoru looked out the window for a moment.
The full moon hung in the dark night sky.
The blue eyes holding the moonlight stared at it for a moment as if thinking, then turned back to Rentaro.
"Do you remember the conversation we had when we first met? The one about [trust]."
"...Yeah. I remember."
Rentaro nodded quietly.
Kaoru had clearly valued [trust]—something not written into the contract—more than any contract term.
Because that matched Rentaro’s own way of thinking.
And thankfully, Kaoru had signed with Stani-On and, up to now, they had maintained the best partnership without any major problems.
A human relationship deeper and thicker than a legal relationship formed by contract.
At the very least, Rentaro treated Kaoru like a younger brother and was supporting him with everything he had, in every possible way.
And Kaoru could never have been unaware of that.
So.
"‘Rentaro hyung.’ There’s something I haven’t been able to tell you honestly until now."
Rentaro hyung.
The moment he heard that, Rentaro’s chest grew hot, and even in that serious atmosphere his mouth almost twitched upward.
His hair stood on end. The cold, indifferent Kaoru was calling him "Rentaro hyung" in such a gentle voice.
Instead of the stiff "President," he was casually using his name and speaking informally!
Rentaro nearly shouted in joy at being acknowledged, but he forced it down with all his might and asked with sparkling eyes,
"What is it? Tell me comfortably. I’ll listen to everything, hyung—Rentaro hyung will."
At Rentaro’s proud declaration, as if he were a dependable older brother telling him to spill everything with a broad chest and a sharp nod, Kaoru...
"..."
With a faint, somewhat suggestive smile, he briefly turned his gaze to the windshield, then looked back at Rentaro and said,
"I’m officially dating Ai. It’s been three years now."
"..."
Rentaro froze solid like a statue, his face still wearing the expression of a dependable older brother.
The body that had been puffed up with broad shoulders suddenly went pssshhh— and shrank like a deflated tube.
Rentaro, who had gone from a dependable muscular Shiba Inu to a pitiful, deflated Shiba Inu that had lost all will to fight in an instant.
"Whine..."
"...A-are you okay?"
"Whine... h-how... how could you tell me something like that only now?"
With tears gathering in his weak eyes, Rentaro ended up whining and complaining to the younger boy who was more than ten years younger than him.
He didn’t regret the contract... not at all, but if he had been told in advance when they signed...
"H-h-h-h- so that’s why— why you suddenly did cameo appearances— and carried separate personal and work phones— and sometimes disappeared when your schedule ended early at night, huh? So that was all because— because—"
"...Sorry. It was a secret no one was allowed to know, so I had no choice."
"Y-you could’ve told me! I-I’m your president. I wanted to be a trustworthy older brother—!"
"..."
Who was supposed to be the older brother here?
Kaoru, who had lived nearly twice as long as Rentaro when counting both his past and present lives, silently took a tissue from the glove compartment and handed it to his hyung... no, to him.
Rentaro took the tissue and, without wiping his wet eyes, said,
"Then... at that shoot... how did you handle it? You didn’t contact her in advance, right? If you meet, it would be super, bu-bu-bu-bu awkward... so you’d have to disguise it somehow, right?"
"...Right. So I was going to ignore it and just walk past. But then."
"...Hm? But then?"
For a moment, a faint red [starlight] bloomed in Kaoru’s blue eyes.
His right hand clenched tightly into a fist.
Countless emotions swept through his chest and mind.
At the boy’s intense emotions, Rentaro stared blankly at Kaoru’s face for a moment.
He was in pain, agonizing, regretting. So terribly, so desperately.
As if answering Rentaro’s impression, Kaoru gathered his emotions and looked at him.
"I just couldn’t do it. So... I greeted her. Asked if she’d been well. Even though I knew I shouldn’t have. I just couldn’t pass by her. I didn’t want to see Ru..., Ai make a sad face, no matter what."
"..."
"It’s not that I didn’t trust you.... I just needed ‘courage’ too. I needed timing as well."
Of course, he still hadn’t revealed everything.
But Kaoru, mixing nine parts truth with one part appropriate seasoning, appealed to Rentaro’s emotions.
"You can curse me out and scold me. I’ll accept it. But I need your ability. Even if my relationship with Ai is exposed again, I can’t just stand there helpless and get crushed like before. I still can’t tell you ‘everything’ about the secrets, but I trust you."
"..."
Rentaro turned his gaze and looked out the windshield for a moment.
A benefactor’s request after saving him from the edge of a cliff.
A high school student forced to hide from the world and endure a heartbreaking love with the person he loved.
Trust and faith. The romance of those outdated emotions, understood by no one better than him, shared by his best partner and best actor.
As all those feelings and lingering emotions combined and exploded in Rentaro’s chest—
"Khh! Hhngh! Khh— ugh!"
"H-hyung?"
Rentaro burst into the tears he had been holding back, nodding furiously with the hot, grand spirit of a true man.
"Kkhhngh! H-haha...! Don’t worry! Don’t worry! Just— just trust your hyung. Kaoru—!!!! T-this hyung! I’ll definitely protect your love and your dream...!"
"..."
"Hoo! Aaaah! Yes! This is what a president is for! This is why Stani-On exists!!!! Damn it—! Who cares what happens to the world! Love is what matters most!!!"
Vroooom—!!!
Rentaro slammed on the accelerator and said with eyes full of life-or-death resolve,
"Trust me, Kaoru. I’ll take responsibility... and protect you and Ai to the very end."
"Yeah. Thanks."
Kaoru gave an awkward smile and turned his head toward the window for a moment.
There were still many secrets left to reveal, including the twins’ existence, but....
"Aaaahhh!"
Vroooom—!!!
Kaoru wasn’t particularly worried.
Rather, thinking that he would have to endure an overwhelming reaction that couldn’t even compare to what Rentaro was showing now,
"Ha."
he quietly shook his head.
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