"Ughh..."
Rentarou, looking as if his soul had gone out for a walk and never come back, let out a pained groan and slumped into the sofa with both hands clamped over his head.
He felt like he was about to pass out. It was as if he might burst open and bleed from his eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and even his ass.
His stomach twisted so violently it felt like the coffee, potato chips, and even the tanmen he’d eaten for dinner were about to come back up from both ends.
Wouldn’t it be better to just run naked through the middle of Tokyo?
If that could soften reality even a little, he’d do it a hundred times, a thousand times. No, he was prepared to spend the rest of his life walking around naked.
He could barely accept the news that a current top idol member had been dating for four years—
but twins between them? And they’d be three after September?
Rentarou honestly had no idea how he was supposed to process that.
And on top of that... he finally understood why Kaoru had been so obsessed with [sincerity], why he hadn’t cared about the size of the agency and had only wanted someone he could trust with risk management completely.
Still dazed from the shock, Rentarou slowly looked at Kaoru.
Why had he only brought up such a shocking confession now? So many questions came flooding in that it felt like his skull might split open.
He had three-year-old twins.
Between Kaoru, who had entered university this year, and the ace member of the most popular idol group in Japan.
Which meant...
"Y-you had them right after high school? When you were still a student?"
"Yeah. They were born when I was a first-year in high school. In a small rural general hospital in Miyazaki Prefecture."
"..."
At Kaoru’s overly considerate explanation, which even covered the parts Rentarou hadn’t asked about, he stared into space with the utterly drained expression of a Shiba dog that had been tricked by its owner into getting neutered.
"Gghhh..."
What in the world. God. Buddha. Oh my God. Dear heaven.
What was he supposed to do with this?
"...This isn’t a hidden camera prank, right? Huh? No camera’s suddenly going to pop out or something?"
Even with Rentarou’s desperate plea for a return to reality, Kaoru quietly shook his head.
Unable to believe this reality, Rentarou covered his face again and bowed his head.
He was screwed.
There was no question about it.
If a sudden dating scandal broke and someone said they were getting married, that could still be managed somehow. But having children? That was a completely different level of impossible.
[sincerity]. Trust. Friendship. Partnership.
Rentarou, who understood the importance of all those values, had been thrown onto the trial ground of a lifetime.
So from the very beginning... Kaoru had been trying to test him...?
He should have realized then that every word the handsome bastard had said in front of him was carefully laid groundwork.
He never imagined those words would become reality, and that he alone would have to bear every bit of the risk.
Rentarou even heard phantom voices in his head—angels descending around him, not with trumpets but electric guitars, screaming a welcome to hell.
"H-hhkk... Haa... Hhkk..."
It was a night that made him desperately want his widowed mother back in Gunma Prefecture.
Rentarou let out a groan that might have been a scream or a sob and wiped at his tear-streaked eyes.
Kaoru pulled several tissues from the box on the table and handed them over.
"Huff—huff—hey, you really—what are you trying to do to me? You don’t hate me or anything, right? Right? Kaoru? There’s no way otherwise—huff—sob—why would you tell me something like this—sob sob—"
"Why would I hate you? You’re the first person I’m telling. I haven’t even been able to tell President Toshiro at the troupe."
"..."
What?
At Kaoru’s words, Rentarou wiped his tears and looked at him.
For Rentarou, who knew well how close Kaoru was with President Toshiro, that statement struck like a sweet arrow straight into his ear.
Seeing the tearful empathy robot’s expression, Kaoru said with a very serious face,
"Then who else would I tell first? Something this shocking? Even when I contracted with you, I could only talk around it, using examples.
That one promise—that you’d protect me and my family—was more important than any other contract term.
I’ve watched your abilities more closely and more often than anyone else over all this time. Now that I know my decision wasn’t wrong, there’s no reason to hesitate."
"...Khh."
Rentarou blew his nose and fidgeted with both hands before speaking carefully.
"Then—then the kids... the twins... who’s raising them right now?"
"President Saito and his wife from Ichigo Production. They’re registered under them too. Ai was adopted when she was twelve, so on paper they’re biological siblings."
"Huh—"
With the shocking news continuing to pile up, Rentarou covered his mouth with both hands as if it were happening to him.
Kaoru’s usually indifferent face showed a trace of sorrow as he let out a sigh and said quietly,
"...I’ve never once gone to a playground with my children. Not even to the hospital for vaccinations.
If I wanted to check whether they were eating well, running around properly, or getting sick, I had no choice but to call or text—or sneak into President Saito’s house when no one was looking and meet them there.
Of course I’ve never been able to go anywhere together. Legally, I’m a stranger to them.
They’re my children, but I can’t even exercise parental rights, and I can’t pass on my surname or theirs.
So... I don’t want my children—my most precious treasures in this world—to keep living hidden away as people who aren’t allowed to be blessed. Never."
"..."
Rentarou could say nothing as he looked at Kaoru’s dark face, heavy with sorrow and regret, a face he had never seen before.
Even without being told, the devastation he felt as a father, and the guilt he carried toward his children, came through painfully even to Rentarou, who wasn’t married.
How much had it hurt all this time?
Kaoru had never been able to tell even those closest to him. He had suffered alone until his heart was torn apart, yet still endured in silence.
The frustration of not being able to even take a walk in the park with the wife and child he loved, hand in hand.
The cruel reality that, at such a young age, he had been forced to raise the most precious treasures of a life that should have been blessed and loved as someone else’s children.
Kaoru had only just entered university, and Rentarou could hardly even imagine how much he must have suffered, unable to fully enjoy his shining youth because he had been worrying about his family.
"Sss—huff—sob—khh..."
"...Brother."
"N-no, it’s not that. Ugh—sob sob—too much—sob! Too much, you—brother—I’m sorry. I was only thinking about myself—sob! You were the ones who had it the hardest! I was!"
Rentarou’s tear ducts exploded without mercy. The man who had looked half-dead just moments ago, as if his soul had been stolen, now had tears pouring out of him like a broken faucet.
Kaoru reached for the tissues on the table again, then simply handed the entire box over instead.
Rentarou took it and cried bitterly in Kaoru’s place, wiping away tears and snot with the tissues.
"Honestly—if you’d told me on the day we signed the contract, I would’ve understood and accepted it all. Why did you wait until now? Huh? I really never imagined the reason that kid always acts like he’s lived through everything would be something like this—"
"I’m sorry, Brother Rentarou. You’re the only one who understands how I feel."
At Kaoru’s smile, Rentarou’s eyes shone with determination, and he nodded hard.
He was still breathing unevenly from crying, but his confused mind and heart had become firm once more.
No—stronger than before, somehow.
Rentarou barely managed to calm his tears and said,
"Hoo... haa... hoo... Leave it to me, Brother. I’ll do everything I can. Trust me. I’ll take responsibility for your family and protect them until the end. Trust me, okay?"
Rentarou’s eyes blazed with hard resolve and determination. He would not keep crying weakly any longer.
It was time to prove once more his trust and loyalty to the one person in his life who had saved him.
Kaoru silently nodded in response to that loyalty. Rentarou fiddled with the tear-soaked tissues for a moment before speaking, as if he had made up his mind.
"Could I maybe see the kids’ faces..."
"Ah. Sorry. I left my personal phone behind. There aren’t any photos on my work iPhone. I can do a video call, though. Ai’s still there, and the kids aren’t asleep yet."
"Huh? Really? Wait, hold on!"
While Kaoru took out his phone and called the child staying at the Saito couple’s house, Rentarou hurried over to lock every office door, then checked every other office and bathroom to make sure no one else was around.
Then, panting from all the running, Rentarou rushed back and stuck close beside Kaoru, who was making the video call, straightening his hair and repeatedly scrunching and relaxing his face.
"D-did you tell the others that you were telling me?"
"Yeah. I told them everything about the marriage registration and family registry issues. It’s a matter of my decision and Ai’s, so—"
Ding.
As the video call connected, a cute little girl and boy appeared on the screen.
And then—at last. The ace member of the idol group currently ruling Japan, the one Rentarou had only ever seen in the media, 『Ai』, appeared with her starlight eyes sparkling.
Ai smiled and waved at the phone, then shouted together with the twins sitting on her lap.
"Kaoruuuu!"
"Papa!!!!"
"Daddy!!!"
Rentarou could hardly believe whether this was a dream or reality. Even though he had seen a banner ad for the women’s clothing brand Ai endorsed and modeled for earlier that very day, on his way back from a meeting.
That pretty, fresh-faced girl was the mother of three-year-old twins?
Rentarou slowly turned his head and looked at Kaoru’s reaction.
"Were you not asleep? Haha. Did you miss Daddy?"
"Yeeees!!!"
Kaoru, blooming into a happy smile full of [honestly]—a smile he had never once shown anyone else—toward his family.
Even the easy smile he wore around Rentarou wasn’t worth comparing to the happy smile he showed now.
Rentarou barely held back the tears threatening to spill again, suppressing them with all his strength at the sharp, tender ache in his heart.
Still struggling not to cry, Rentarou made a strange face as Kaoru explained the situation to Ai and the twins, then turned the camera around.
"This is my dad’s company president. Brother, say hello."
"A-ah, hello. I’m Murakami Rentarou of Stani-On. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ai!"
"Yes! Hello-☆ I’m Ai! Kaoru has told me so much about you! Hehe—please take good care of our husband!"
"Ah! Yes, yes! Of course! Absolutely!"
As expected of the mother of two children, Ai’s greeting was so much more mature than before that Kaoru’s lips rose on their own toward the sky.
Then Ai turned the phone, and Ruby, smiling brightly, and Aqua, with a cool, indifferent face that resembled Kaoru’s, greeted the camera.
"Hello! I’m Ruby! I’m three years old this year-☆"
"Hello. I’m Aquamarine. It’s nice to meet you."
"Those are my daughter and son. Cute, right?"
At Kaoru’s bragging, Rentarou nodded blankly. The children’s faces had been shaped by drawing out the best features of both Kaoru and Ai, with a charm that was already distinctive despite their young age.
Rentarou finally understood why Kaoru was so desperate about his children.
For Kaoru, who had worked so hard for the sake of his wife and children—treasures so precious they wouldn’t hurt even if you put them in your eyes—
as a brother, as an adult, as the head of a company, he hadn’t understood his feelings or reached out first!
With guilt, apology, and the pride of seeing him build a family all crashing together,
Rentarou finally burst into tears he had been holding back for so long.
"Sob—huff... Right! Aqua, Ruby! Nice to meet you! Miss Ai! You’ve really had it rough! Kaoru! Even from another man’s point of view, you’re the real deal! Yes! The real deal! You should be proud of yourself!"
"Wah! Y-yes! Thank you! Ah—uh—um—please, don’t cry!?"
Kaoru let out a familiar sigh and quietly pulled more tissues from the box, handing them to Rentarou.
It was his own fault for forgetting that what leaked from inside would also leak from outside.
-
"..."
President Toshiro smoked for a long while, letting out deep sighs in silence.
Assuming everything Kaoru had told him was true, there was only one thing he could say as an adult, as the head of the troupe, and as someone who had watched Kaoru grow up like a son.
"You’ve had it rough. All this time."
"...Thank you, President."
Thick cigarette smoke poured from Toshiro’s nose.
It was a sigh carrying many meanings.
This wasn’t something that had just happened. It was something that had already happened three years ago.
To Kaoru, who had walked away from an acting career with a bright future because of a false dating scandal and chosen the path of being forgotten for the sake of the person he loved.
To the couple who had not aborted the twins in the womb, and who had endured hard years together with love and trust at such a young age.
Toshiro had no desire to say anything harsh, nor any wish to.
He just needed a little time to accept it.
After all, he was well past forty now.
He had lived long enough to know from experience that life could bring all kinds of things.
"...If you’d told me, I would’ve helped however I could. Not that changing dirty diapers is my thing."
"I know. But I didn’t want to worry you."
"..."
It was an answer carrying many meanings.
President Toshiro ground out the cigarette, now just a filter, into the ashtray he’d brought from his desk, then rested one arm on the table and fell into thought.
Silence followed.
How long had it been—five, maybe six breaths?
Toshiro turned his eyes and looked into Kaoru’s blue gaze.
Kaoru, no longer a little boy, but a tall young man, was staring back at him with unwavering eyes.
Because he had that kind of spirit and resolve, 『Ai』, 『Aquamarine』, and 『Ruby』, along with the Saito couple who knew the secret, had all been able to keep moving forward until now.
Even if a black future awaited them, one full of thorns, hell, sorrow, resentment, and rage—words that contained every possible negative meaning.
This [family] had the strength to trust one another, rely on one another, and endure that trial with their own bodies.
Toshiro let out a breath, swallowed dryly once, and said,
"Can I ask about your plans from here on out?"
"Yes."
"...What are you going to do?"
At Toshiro’s question, Kaoru gave an unreadable smile for a moment. Shrugging once, he looked out the window and said,
"There’s no right answer. We’ll have to choose the path that hurts the family the least. So that Ai and I can keep doing what we want safely too."
"...You’re choosing a hard road."
"Nothing worth having comes easy. I’m not going to give up."
"..."
Toshiro gave a wry smile and nodded as well. He picked up the cigarette pack on the table as if to take another one out, then set it back down.
"Do you remember what I said when you came here for your first interview, about an actor’s mindset?"
"Yes."
"What did I say?"
"Whether it’s hellfire or the summit of Mount Fuji, an actor has to be able to throw himself away perfectly on the spot. If you get buried in familiar habits, it’s over forever as an actor... that’s what you said."
"You remember well."
Toshiro smiled in satisfaction and ran a hand through his hair.
"That mindset isn’t limited to acting. The resolve to completely discard yourself for your family. Kaoru, you... if it’s you, you can get through this, just like you always have."
Kaoru gave his usual indifferent smile and said,
"I’ll do my best."
"Good."
Toshiro rose from his chair and was about to head back to his seat when he suddenly stopped and said,
"But... I don’t know about the daughter, but the son looks exactly like you. It’d be strange not to recognize him."
"...Haha."
-
Clap!
"See? I knew it. I knew it. That kid Aqua, he was exactly the kind of performance only your blood could produce. The way he talks, his looks, even his manner of speech. Everything! All of it!"
Director Gotanda, delighted that his hunch had been right again, clapped and slapped the glove compartment in the passenger seat with his palm.
Whether Kaoru had kids or not didn’t matter.
What made Director Gotanda happy was the fact that his intuition had been correct.
Kaoru let out a long sigh and rubbed his temple as if trying to squeeze it in place.
He hadn’t originally planned to tell Director Gotanda, but Ai had a different opinion.
[A little unusual, but maybe he’s a good person? I’m in favor-!]
Since no one had said something like that to him since Amamiya Goro, Kaoru trusted Ai’s instincts and contacted Director Gotanda to meet in his car.
The wild man who showed up dragging his slippers and asking if it was about the project was now overjoyed that his hunch had been right, even after hearing Kaoru’s shocking confession.
To the most psychotic-looking person among everyone who’d heard the news, Kaoru said casually,
"Please don’t hit the glove compartment. It’ll break."
"Ah, sorry. It’s a new car, right? You have to treasure those while they’re still rare."
Director Gotanda, now behaving a little more calmly, grinned at Kaoru and said,
"I knew it."
"Pardon?"
"I said I knew it. It all makes sense now. That’s what I’m saying. No wonder you accepted the cameo appearance without hesitation, and when we ran into each other on set, that reaction of yours... it felt different somehow. That was absolutely not the atmosphere of a false dating scandal, I mean, something between friends.
[stories]. A story only you and the others knew got added to that meeting, and even I, who knew nothing about it, got pulled into it. You all gave yourselves away to me from that point. Your son, Aqua too. With a father who looks exactly like this standing right here, why didn’t I realize it? What a shame."
"..."
"And yes, your daughter Ruby showed plenty of talent too. Her talent resembles yours more than Ai’s, so both of them have real potential. This could become a very good work."
Director Gotanda, stroking his bearded chin with intense seriousness—yet clearly getting ahead of himself—made Kaoru say flatly,
"You know what?"
"Hm? What is it?"
At the director’s question, Kaoru let out a quiet sigh and said,
"Ai told me to trust you. She said you were a good person. So I decided to believe her, but it turns out my worries were unnecessary."
"Unnecessary?"
"You really are out of your mind."
"Hahaha!"
At last, Kaoru smiled in exasperation and shook his head while speaking, and Director Gotanda laughed in satisfaction too.
"I told you from the start. You and I are the same kind of weirdo. Weirdos can see through each other. Just like Director Sojiro saw through you, I saw through you too. But I saw a little deeper. Anyway, congratulations. Send out the invitations before the wedding."
He was even more unhinged than Producer Sojiro.
Director Gotanda, having finished his business and preparing to get out, suddenly went, "Ah," and scratched his head.
"In that case, I’ll have to claim my stake first."
"What do you mean?"
"Your whole family is going to appear in my film. Before Director Sojiro gets to them?"
"...Fine, fine. Just get out already."
Too tired to even keep talking, Kaoru let out an exhausted sigh, nodded vaguely, and gave in.
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