* 𝒴ᴼᵁ 𝒜ᴿᴱ ℬᴿᴬᵛᴱᴿ 𝒯ᵀᴴᴬᴺ 𝒴ᴼᵁ ℬᴱᴸᴵᴱᵛᴱ , 𝒮ᴹᴬᴿᵀᴱᴿ 𝒯ᴴᴬᴺ 𝒴ᴼᵁ 𝒮ᴱᴱᴹ , 𝒜ᴺᴰ 𝒮ᵀᴿᴼᴺᴳᴱᴿ 𝒯ᴴᴬᴺ 𝒴ᴼᵁ 𝒯ᴴᴵᴺᴷ *
✎ ɪɴ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ Ruby Hoshino will stop at nothing to find out who her father is, but Aquamarine Hoshino simply wants to live a happy life as an actor...
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ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇxᴛ ᴇᴘɪꜱᴏᴅᴇ of The Beginning of an Idol was airing tomorrow. The show was on a tight schedule in their rush to try to finish as quickly as possible, so Ruby was now out filming it. She would spend tomorrow watching it air at Mem-Cho's house, but she wanted to give Akane a gift. However, since she didn't have time, it was now Aqua's job to give it to her.
He wasn't sure if he would be allowed to be inside Akane's room, but after mentioning being Sarina's brother—Ruby made sure he only referred to her as Sarina—he was allowed in. The hospital room Akane was in would seem plain if not for some cards and gifts lying around the bedside table. Akane herself, who hadn't taken any pictures since her attempted suicide, looked better than he thought she would, though she was clearly confused as to why he came.
"Good morning," he said. "I'm Aqua, Sarina's brother. She wanted me to come for her and give you a gift."
She nodded at the basket he held. "How about you sit?"
He sat at the chair placed beside her bed. She took the basket when he handed it to her, but after that, it was silent and awkward. Truthfully, their only connection to each other was Ruby, though it would be hard to even talk about her when his Ruby was different from her Sarina.
"Do you do anything?" she eventually asked. "Do you sing like your sister?"
"I like to act."
"Oh, same. Well" —she kept her gaze focused on the gift basket— "you probably know that already..."
"That's fine. I'm not acting much lately, anyway." There was a beat of silence before he asked, "You're okay after everything, aren't you?"
"Everyone keeps asking me that, but I keep telling everyone I'm okay."
"Are you?" Even though she wasn't looking at him, he kept his gaze on her. "It wasn't that long ago when you attempted to kill yourself. It's not possible to get rid of suicidal thoughts in such short time. I know we only know each other because of Sarina, so you don't have to tell me anything, but you shouldn't lie to people you care about."
Akane didn't say anything. She didn't touch anything inside the basket, but she kept her eyes on it anyway.
To spare them from uncomfortable silence, Aqua's phone dinged with a notification. Quickly checking to make sure she was okay with it—Akane looked as relieved as he felt at the distraction—he saw it was Ruby. She asked him how to calm someone who just shared a secret he thought would make her hate him but actually made her very worried about him. She added not to question anything and to respond as fast as he could.
