"Ah, My Love is already over." saith Minami sadly.
She turns her head unto Ruby, grinning
"Hey, Hey. How do you feel about your brother kissing in the show?"
"How do I feel?" Ruby said, softly.
Her face turns dark, her smile fades away. (Disgusted) She clasped her hands.
"I've got mixed feelings about it. Need I say more?"
Minami smiles, understanding.
"I guess not."
Ruby lays her head down her table, sighing.
"It was five times more awkward than watching a kiss scene between siblings on TV."
Minami's eyes widened in amazement in Ruby's opinion.
"Whoa. Well, sooner or later, you'll meet Akane-chan in person, right? She's your brother's girlfriend, after all."
Ruby glanced at Minami before glancing back on her table.
"Girlfriend..."
Ruby's Thoughts:
But...Aqua's feelings for Akane...are most likely (Because she was playing Ai)
"Are you talking about My Love?" saith Frill.
Minami and Ruby's eyes widened, turning their head to Frill Shiranui.
"Oh, yes."
Minami:
"You know about it, too?"
"I know someone who appeared in that show. It was interesting. (Referring to Aqua)" Frill replied.
Ruby chuckled awkwardly
"You don't have to be considerate..."
"The show was full of hunks and pretty girls. It was definitely a feast for the eyes." Frill said
Ruby's eyes widened, raising an eyebrow.
"A FEAST FOR THE EYES?!"
Minami replied softly
"Even a top star like you says something like that, huh?"
"No one hates people with good looks, right?" Frill replied unto Minami.
"It was good for my eyes, really. I think my eyesight has improved by 0.5."
Minami and Ruby gasped.
She's pretty funny — said the both, sarcastically.
Frill continues
"Personally, I'd like to see Mem-cho as a maiden in love. If I were one of the guys, I'd definitely go for her. They should've been more aggressive don't you think?"
Ruby squints her eyes in disgust and confusion, she whispers unto Minami.
"Shiranui-san looks cool on TV, but this is what she's like behind the scenes, huh?"
Minami replies.
"Actually, there are a lot of people like that.
It's not easy for funny girls to be popular because men see them as rivals instead of falling for her. That's why who sell themselves as polished girls can't joke around."
"That's terrible." Ruby replied disgustingly.
Frill-san continues, staring away.
"Aqua-san made my heart skip a beat. It might just be because I know him, but I think everyone feels the same way."
"Aqua nii-san is quite popular among the general course girls." Minami said, replying unto Frill-san.
Frill replies.
"Some people from the performing arts program are interested in him, too... Everyone knows that he has a girlfriend, so they can only lie in wait now."
Meanwhile
Kana stares away, hearing the murmurs of the girl students about Aqua. "He's so handsome." "He's cuter in person."
Hours passed.
Ruby's mind:
My Love was really a high profile. It became a big show that will definely affect my brother's future, but not only that, it had a big impact on B-Komachi as well.
Ruby and Mem-cho's eyes lit up, looking at the new count of subscribers in YouTube.
"We've got 10,000 subscribers!" saith both Mem-cho and Ruby.
Mem-cho smirks playfully.
"Well, I used my channel to promote it. If we didn't get this many, we'd be in trouble."
Ruby continues:
With Mem-cho on the team, we were able to make authentic videos for our channel.
Ruby blushes, looking at the previous videos posted in their hannel.
"Somehow. It feels like we're official now!"
Kana sighed.
"What, we weren't official before?" Kana said, sarcastically.
She continued —
"So far, we've only done self introductions. If possible, I want to upload music videos soon."
Mem-cho stares at laptop.
"Any news on the music department?"
Kana looks up at Mem-cho. Crossing her legs.
"The president is asking some artists she knows to help us." She then raises her book, reading .
She continues:
"Basically, we can't do anything until the song is done...and it's going to take a while, so just take it easy." she plays the pages on the book.
Mem-cho then takes the book from Kana's hand. Shaking the book
"In your dreams. Did you forget that we're the new B-Komachi? The previous B-Komachi has songs for us, right?"
Ruby's eyes lit up, approaching Mem-cho.
"Oh, I get it! It's okay for us to use the old songs!"
"That's right!" Mem-cho replied.
Ruby hugs Mem-cho in excitement.
"Mem-cho, you're a genius!"
Kana rolls her eyes.
"Tsk, they realized it..." she said sarcastically.
Mem-cho:
"Even now, there are a lot of things we can do! If we take it easy, we'll be 30 before we know it!"
Ruby grins (with a hint of eerieness)
"Aren't you torturing yourself?"
Mem-points to the ceiling, shouting excitingly.
"The first duty as an idol! What makes us beautiful...yet tiring at the same time! Let's start practicing our dance moves!"
2 hours passed.
They tried almost every songs the B-Komachi before has in store.
Sweating their bodies till' they're no longer standing.
Kana takes her leave to rest. Kana leaves the room. sitting outside, leaning her head on the wall.
"There are 30 choreographed songs left in the video. We're not going to memorize them all, are we?" Kana thought.
Kana looks down on the ground, wrapping herself in her arms.
I can't keep up with their motivations. Those idol-obsessed nerds...
"Haah...why did i sign up for this to begin with?" she murmured unto herself.
Silence
Aqua's voice echoes in the hall.
"Good work, Arima."
Kana noticed a water bottle beside her, being given by Aqua.
Kana slowly turns her head to Aqua, her eyes softened.
"Tha–(thanks)"
Kana then suddenly remembered Aqua and Akane's kiss.
Kana pushes the water away. Shouting demandingly.
"I don't need it! Just go away!"
Aqua takes the water bottle, confused.
There was silence for a moment.
"Arima, you've been cold towards me lately."
Aqua then puts the water bottle down beside her.
"I know you have a found mouth and an attitude, but...cut it out already. I get hurt too, you know." he said, walking away.
Kana looks down on the ground.
What the heck? You...started it.
Kana starts sobbing.
You...!!
She raised her head.
"A–Aqua...!" she called, but he was already gone. Away from the hallway.
Kana looks down on the ground again, frowning further.
Evening came — Meanwhile at a sushi shop.
Kaburagi takes a sip of his tea.
"What we're going to talk about...it's like digging up someone's grave. Why do you want to know so much about Ai-kun?"
Aqua looks down on the table. Squeezing his hand unto the cup.
"I'm a huge fan of hers. There's no way out of it. Do you need any other reasons?"
Kaburagi stares unto him. Then turns his head away. His voice, serious.
"Your fantasy as a fan will come to nothing if you know the truth. There are no exceptions in this regard.
The entertainment industry, so the speak, is bluffing a game. With attractive materials come attractive lies. We create a character that doesn't exist in reality.
Basically, the way we do things is like those who lie on their resumes to get into a good company."
Aqua replied, his voice, sharper.
"Even so, I still want to know."
Kaburagi stares unto him.
"If you're a fan, you'd better off not knowing, but I can't convince you otherwise, huh?
As I said before, I was fated to Ai-kun, and I assigned her to all kindsof jobs. Back then, she just came from the countryside. She was a total bumpkin. She didn't know what being a pro meant. And she didn't try to adapt with her surroundings. She wore clothes that didn't looks good on her just because they were cheap.
She was that kind of...
Meanwhile on Akira's house.
"...brat." Akira said, hitting her with an empty water bottle.
Ai stops the fire while Akira takes the pan away from her.
"You just burnt the tofu." Akira said.
Ai gulps nervously.
"Well...uhm... Sorry."
Akira turns his head back to Ai, staring unto her guilty and poor face.
Akira sighed before turning his head back to the pan. Turning the fire back.
"We can still probably cook it, the insides are still pretty good. We can cook it on the burnt way."
Ai's eyes widened, her eyes lit up in excitement.
"Wait, really? That's a thing?"
Ai leans in closer. Looking at the cook.
Akira steps aside, letting Ai hold and watch the food.
"Yeah, it is."
Ai looks up unto Akira, her eyes were all like a child, deeply wondering.
"Teach me."
Akira's eyes softened. He then took Ai's wrist, teaching her how to cook.
Meanwhile, back until Aqua and Kaburagi.
Kaburagi continues —
"So, I introduced her to a workshop of a theater company, hoping that it's help her somehow."
Aqua raises an eyebrow.
"Workshop?"
"Yeah, I joined that troupe when I was in college, a troupe called LaLa Lai."
Aqua then remembers Kana's words unto him before.
"They say, that only top-notch actors exist in the LaLa Lai troupe...and Akane Kurokawa is the young ace there."
Back to the present
Kaburagi continues —
"It's the same troupe that Akane-kun belongs to. It wasn't that famous at that time, though. They say that love changes people.
A flashback of Ai entering behind the curtains with a shadow of a young man behind.
"Ai...must have found her love there."