After the radio broadcast wrapped up, the four of us—Ruby, Aqua, Ai, and I—spent some quality family time together back at home. And then...
"Hey... aren't you ready yet, Ruby?"
"Geez... just wait a sec, Oppa! This uniform is cute, but it's super complicated to put on. Seriously cute, though~"
"Need some help, Ruby?"
"Nope! I can handle this much on my own, so I'm good, Papa!"
"Is that so?"
Well, if she says so, I suppose I should let her figure it out.
Today marked the beginning of Aqua and Ruby's high school life in earnest. Unfortunately, Ai was still dead to the world, unable to wake up, so the role of seeing them off fell solely to me.
"Try not to be late on the very first day, alright?"
"I can drive you there if you need."
"No way. If we go with Dad, we're bound to draw a crowd the moment we arrive. I can't ask for that... Besides, isn't Ruby's skirt a little too short?"
Ah. Aqua beat me to the punch on the very thing I was about to say.
"He's right. Ruby, that skirt looks a bit too short. If the wind blows even a little..."
"Oppa, you've acted like an old man since forever... And Papa, you are an old man!"
"!?"
A... An old man... It's not technically wrong, but still...!!
At Ruby's words, I clutched my chest and sank to my knees right there in the entryway.
"Aren't you kneeling a little too easily...?"
"Ruby's words cut deep, Aqua..."
"Just how much of a doting father are you...?"
"I don't want to hear that from a sis-con."
"Both of you, shut up!! Anyway, Papa, we're off!"
"Yeah, yeah. Be safe."
After receiving Ruby's goodbye, I watched Aqua and Ruby step out of the house.
Those children, who were once so small... in the blink of an eye, they graduated elementary school, then middle school, and now they are high schoolers.
It felt as though time was moving far too quickly, but I knew this, too, shall pass. I simply, earnestly hoped that the children would continue to grow up healthy and happy.
Well then, shall I go wake up the princess who is still lost in dreamland?
3rd Person POV: Hoshino Ruby
"Ugh, I'm so nervous~"
Overwhelmed by nerves right from the entrance ceremony, Hoshino Ruby muttered to herself as she trailed behind Arima Kana, her senior by one year.
Hearing that mumble, Arima Kana spoke up.
"There's no need to be nervous. This isn't a practice room or a studio; it's just an ordinary school. If you act naturally, like you would at any other high school, you'll be fine."
After guiding Ruby to her classroom, Arima Kana left with Aqua. Standing alone in front of Class 1-F, the classroom she would be attending from now on, Ruby took a breath.
"Is this it...?"
She carefully opened the door and stepped inside...
"Whoa!"
(Look right, a beauty! Look left, a handsome guy!!)
(Even for the Performing Arts Department, I thought it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but I was wrong!?)
(It is distinctly different from the middle school I went to!!)
Muttering internally, Ruby slowly walked toward the back of the classroom.
(B-But still? I inherited Mama's genes and Papa's genes, so I won't lose in the looks department... I can't lose!!)
Thinking this, Ruby checked the female student sitting in the seat next to her...
(Whoa!? There's someone incredible here!?)
She stared intensely at the chest of the girl with pink hair sitting next to her. However, the girl receiving Ruby's gaze turned to look at Ruby's face as well.
Realizing she had been noticed, Ruby raised her head to meet her eyes. The student with pink hair spoke.
"Ah... sorry 'bout that. Caught ya starin' and thought, 'Man, she's a real beauty.' The Performing Arts course sure is amazin'."
She praised Ruby's appearance, but Ruby...
"No, no, you're amazing too..."
...said that while her eyes drifted continuously back toward the girl's chest.
"Are you a model, by any chance?"
"Ah... I guess ya could say that. Name's Kotobuki Minami. Nice to meet ya."
As soon as she introduced herself, Ruby whipped out her smartphone.
"Kotobuki Minami... Ah!? You're a gravure idol!"
"Googlin' right in front of my face? That's a bit harsh, ain't it?"
If Yume had been here, he would have despaired, thinking, 'I really hoped she wouldn't resemble Ai in that shameless aspect...!' But since no one was here, it was fine. ★
"Eek~ You're really showing everything..."
"Stop that!?"
Minami, stopping Ruby from checking the phone any further, asked, "I've never actually heard the Kansai dialect in real life! are you from Osaka!? Did you move to Tokyo for entertainment activities?"
"Nah, I'm born and raised in Kanagawa. The accent is just... a character concept?"
As she spoke, her tone shifted from Kansai to standard Japanese.
"It was a fake accent!?"
Unexpectedly, character setting was important. In this entertainment industry, anyway.
3rd Person POV: Hoshino Aqua / Ruby
After the first class ended, Ruby and Minami went to meet Aqua.
"And yada yada, this is my new friend, Minami-chan."
"What kind of explanation is that?"
Aqua retorted at Ruby, who had casually skipped the entire process.
"Well, it's good that you made a friend."
"Did you make any friends, Oppa?"
"............."
At Ruby's question, Aqua's expression stiffened for a moment before he replied as if it were nothing.
"No. It's not like I came to this school specifically to make friends..."
As he made excuses to Ruby, she looked at him with pitiful eyes.
"Aah... That is exactly what someone who can't make friends says... S-Sorry. I didn't mean to make it hard on you. We don't have to talk about class anymore..."
She spoke in a tone that suggested, 'I understand everything, so you don't have to worry.' Triggered by this, Aqua snapped.
"No, I at least have people to talk to, okay!?"
"Guys don't just suddenly go, 'We're friends now, right?' to each other."
"Unlike your department, the General Course is an 'integrated' type."
"Friend groups were already formed internally, so it just 'takes time to get close.'"
"I am not a 'loner because it's the start of the school year,' got it?"
"Wow, Aqua is talking a lot."
Seeing Aqua speak more than ever before, Ruby, surprised by his defensiveness, turned to Minami beside her.
"Minami-chan, please be friends with Aqua too..."
"Ahaha, sure thing~"
"Don't go handing out friends."
Aqua tried to stop Ruby from sharing her friend, but he was somewhat relieved that Minami seemed to have a good personality.
"You don't need to worry about me, worry about yourself. It's a unique environment, so you probably aren't used to it."
In reality, the one to worry about was Ruby, not Aqua.
"That's true. When ya think about how everyone around ya is a pro... it does make ya kinda nervous."
The one who answered Aqua was Minami, but Hoshino Ruby herself said:
"Eh? There's no need to be nervous. This isn't a practice room or a studio; it's just an ordinary school. If you act naturally, you'll be fine."
She repeated the words a certain loli-senpai had said earlier to Minami.
"Ruby-chan..."
Minami looked at Ruby with admiration, but...
"Even though you ripped that line straight from somewhere else."
Thanks to Aqua's interjection, that look of admiration vanished.
"Well, looking at the entrance ceremony, there were plenty of good-looking guys, but barely anyone I'd seen before. You don't need to be that nervous..."
"Hmm..."
At Aqua's words, Ruby thought for a moment.
"There was one. Someone amazing."
Ruby made a face as if recalling something, and then:
"Shiranui Frill was there!!!!"
"A massive hit with her Monday 9 PM drama! A multi-talent who can sing, dance, and act!! The person almost everyone thinks of when they hear the word 'beautiful girl'—Shiranui Frill!!!"
She explained to Aqua as if boasting about her favorite idol (Oshi).
"No, obviously I know her."
She was someone he already knew.
"Aqua, there's an actor I've been keeping an eye on lately. Do you know Shiranui Frill?"
"Shiranui Frill? I know of her, but..."
"I filmed a drama with Ai recently, and she was a surprisingly decent kid. I was keeping an eye on her, but Ai got jealous, and it almost turned into a disaster..."
"You managed to stop it?"
"Thanks to that, I was tormented all day when I got home."
"Mother's jealousy is scary. Father."
"Well, I don't dislike it, though."
Since Yume had mentioned she was someone he was watching, Shiranui Frill was naturally added to Aqua's memory banks.
"That aside, I didn't think you'd be that knowledgeable."
"She's my current Oshi!"
"Hmm."
Because Aqua didn't seem particularly interested in her declaration, Ruby reacted.
"What do you mean 'Hmm'!? It's the famous Shiranui Frill!?"
"Not interested. My Oshis are, and always will be, Ai and Yume-hyung."
Unfortunately for her, Aqua's Oshis were Ai and Yume. Of course, that wasn't just Aqua.
"Well, that's true for me too... but this is this, and that is that!!"
Ruby felt the same way, but she deployed the invincible logic of "this is this, and that is that."
"Ah!? Look, there she is in person...!"
Mid-conversation, Ruby spotted Shiranui Frill walking slowly behind Aqua and pointed.
"Haa~ She's pretty even from a distance~♥"
As she muttered with a blissful expression, Aqua looked at her with a face that said he couldn't understand.
"No, seriously, you're just a fan. Isn't she a classmate?"
"Even so..."
After watching Ruby act shy and embarrassed for a moment, Aqua turned around and walked toward the passing Shiranui Frill.