"Yuko, did you find anything on your side?"
As Ako operated the mouse, checking Seiya's latest "study materials," she asked her sister beside her.
"Nope. Aside from a few questionable 'siscon' cult-type manga, that brat Seiya hasn't added any new items to his collection lately. How about you, Sis? Any useful leads?"
While Yuko was methodically "purging" every siscon title she had found earlier, she turned to ask her sister.
"Seiya's 'study materials' have definitely increased lately. Judging from his file open history and the number of tissues in the trash can, he's probably still in 'sage mode.' But his LINE password seems to have changed again. I've tried several times and none worked. Any ideas, Yuko?"
Yuko froze for a second at her sister's words. "No way, he changed it again? Maybe he noticed the traces you left last time? Getting Seiya to spill his password isn't hard, you know. Should we just hire a professional hacker? Then we can just say his computer got infected with a virus!"
Unbeknownst to Seiya, who had gone out to meet someone, his two adoptive "mothers" were already planning to have his computer hacked.
Dressed in sportswear, Seiya arrived at a park where Hoshino Aqua had been waiting for quite a while.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I've got two troublesome people at home, so it took longer than expected. But Aqua-san… if I'm not mistaken, you're the survivor from back then, right?"
The reason Seiya came here, of course, was because Aqua had asked him to.
After getting Seiya's LINE from his sister Ruby, Aqua had sent him a short message:
"If you want to know the truth about that night, meet me at Yoto Park before 8:30. I'll tell you everything."
Seiya hadn't really watched much of Oshi no Ko — maybe an episode or two.
Since the story started with a stabbing scene, he'd dropped it right away.
Still, even with what little he knew, he understood that Hoshino Aqua and Hoshino Ruby were the "Children of the World" in this world.
He remembered Hoshino Ai's death clearly — brutal and tragic. Unfortunately, at that time, he had still been a child, without any shared power, and was powerless to stop it.
Seiya knew Ai's death wasn't simple. He had secretly investigated it for years, but found nothing.
Ai had guarded her secrets extremely well. Even the few who knew — such as Saito Ichigo from Strawberry Pro, and Aqua's current guardian, Saito Kyoko — treated her like family and never breathed a word.
His brother-in-law and Ako's paralysis were tragedies born from that incident, but that didn't mean Seiya could just let the mastermind go unpunished.
So when Aqua approached him claiming to know the truth, Seiya immediately agreed.
It wasn't about mutual trust — just two people temporarily joining forces because they shared the same enemy.
"My name is Hoshino Aqua. More than ten years ago, the popular idol Hoshino Ai — who was murdered by a crazed fan — was my mother…"
"No need to tell me things I already know. I didn't come out here this late at night just to hear irrelevant exposition. You think I haven't investigated Ai's case all these years? Just tell me who ordered that fan to kill her!"
Before Aqua could finish, Seiya interrupted, clearly impatient.
Realizing further explanation was useless, Aqua pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Seiya.
"The place where Ai, Ruby, and I lived back then was extremely private. Even publicly, Ruby and I were said to be Kyoko's children.
For that fan to find our home and identify us as Ai's children… there's only one possibility — someone leaked the information.
And that person knew Ai very well. It's highly likely that person was our father."
"This list contains the names I found in Ai's personal phone. I believe the real mastermind is among them."
Seiya was momentarily stunned. So this world's Child of the World was planning patricide?
Wait a second — when he watched this anime before, wasn't it supposed to be about romance and idols? When did it turn into a full-blown family tragedy?!
Still, that didn't really concern him. Whether the culprit was Aqua's dad or not — he wasn't his father. If Seiya wanted revenge, he wouldn't hesitate in the slightest!
"Kindaichi Toshirou, Takigi Katsuya…"
"I see. Judging from the names on this list, they're all pretty influential people in the industry. No wonder you came to me. You're hoping to use my current connections to get close to them, right? Just tell me — what exactly do you need from me?"
Seiya wasn't stupid. One glance at the list and he understood Aqua's motive.
"Since the person I suspect might be our father, I need to collect DNA samples — hair, cigarette butts, anything like that — from these men to run a DNA test.
Earlier, I managed to eliminate Takigi Katsuya from the list by helping Arima Kana with a task. But he seems to know a lot more about Ai's secrets, and he gave me one condition.
He wants me to appear on the dating reality show From Now, Let's Seriously Fall in Love, which he's producing. In exchange, he'll give me more information. But he also demands that the show gains a certain level of popularity."
Hearing that, Seiya immediately understood. So Aqua and Takigi had made a deal — Aqua could learn more about Ai, but only if he helped make the show a success.
However, that reality show was basically a tool to promote up-and-coming young actors and idols.
The participants were all attractive, sure, but none of them had real fame.
Takigi's ambitions were obvious. He had personally handpicked the couples for this season, and if they became popular, not only would the industry recognize his skill, but those rising stars would owe him big favors later.
For Aqua, joining From Now, Let's Seriously Fall in Love wasn't an issue. But ensuring it became a hit? That was the hard part.
And given how coincidental it was that he even got close to Takigi in the first place, Aqua eventually decided — after much hesitation — to seek Seiya's help.
(End of Chapter)