𝒩ᴼᵂ 𝒫ᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : ❝ 𝒜ᴸᴸ 𝒯ᴴᴱ 𝒲ᴬʸ 𝒰ᴾ ❞ 𝒷ᵞ 𝐹ᴬᵀ 𝒥ᴼᴱ 𝒜ᴺᴰ 𝑅ᴱᴹʸ 𝑀ᴬ
↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺
ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴄᴀɴ ꜱᴛᴏᴘ ᴍᴇ, ɪ'ᴍ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ᴜᴘ
﹌﹌﹌
ᴀQᴜᴀᴍᴀʀɪɴᴇ ʜᴏꜱʜɪɴᴏ ᴡᴀꜱ about to see if he could go to high school for the second time, though it wasn't as if anyone other than his twin sister, Ruby Hoshino, knew that. In fact, not even she knew the details of his past life.
He preferred not to talk about it. Though he was fine with being a doctor named Gorou Amamiya, he would prefer to leave that life behind. Now, he was Aquamarine Hoshino, and he needed to make his mother, Ai Hoshino, proud of him in the afterlife.
He promised himself he would help her give birth to healthy babies in his past life, after all. Even if he had to change how he acted, Ai would have children she would be proud of.
"My name is Aquamarine Hoshino," he told the interviewers, making sure he was smiling and looking presentable and friendly at the same time. "I'm with Strawberry Productions."
"Your name is definitely unique," one of them said as they looked through the papers he submitted.
"Just call me Aqua," he said, once again reminded at the absurdity of his name. He understood that Ai had named him that for his eye colour, but did he have to be named Aquamarine when Ruby had one that was more than a thousand times better?
One of the interviewers gasped. "You have a standardized test score of 70! Why are you applying for our school when we only require 40?"
Aqua smiled. "I was impressed with your performing arts program. I want to become an actor, so I thought this school would help me the most."
If anything, he knew they were impressed by him. He knew that he would be accepted for having a high standardized test score thanks to being a certified doctor in his past life, so he wasn't too worried. He shouldn't have to be, because he knew just from their faces that he was accepted.
. . .
ᴀQᴜᴀ ᴍᴇᴛ ᴜᴘ with Ruby outside of her classroom. She had her usual bubbly smile, so he could assume hers went well.
"I'm so excited for when school starts!" she said, bouncing on her heels. "Look at how many people there are!"
They had both seen plenty of well-known people. Even though he hadn't gotten a lot of acting jobs lately, he still had some roles from when he was younger to boost him. Ruby, on the other hand, hadn't received much public attention in her current life, let alone her past. He was worried she might get bullied by her other more famous classmates, but her usual upbeat smile showed him she never worried about that. He could always trust Ruby to have a bright smile on her face.
"Wait, what if we're not accepted?" Ruby held her head in playful shock. "I don't have another school in mind!"
"I'm sure we'll be accepted," Aqua assured her. "I already have a much higher standardized test score than needed, and you're hard-working enough to get in."
"Yeah! You're right! You're the best, Aqua! Even if you act really old and wise sometimes..."
A habit from his past life that he apparently couldn't shake off.
A girl with short hair had been walking past when she stopped, overhearing their conversation. She turned around, and her eyes widened when seeing them "Aquamarine Hoshino?"
Aqua didn't recognize her, but he still smiled and said, "That's me, but feel free to just call me Aqua."
The girl pointed to herself, ignoring Ruby and looking at only him with wide, serious eyes. "You remember me, right?"
Ruby's eyes relaxed when realizing who she was. "Oh, you're the child actress who can lick a lying snitch!"
"Flick a crying switch! Do you still not remember?"
Ruby shook her head. "I never thought I'd see you again, so..."
The girl sighed. "Anyway, in case you didn't remember" —she glared at Ruby— "I'm Kana Arima. I didn't expect to see either of you here."
"We didn't expect to see you here either," said Aqua. "It's nice to see you again."
She turned to him. "You're still acting, right? You haven't stopped?"
"I'm trying, but I haven't been accepted for any roles in a while..."
"Maybe you should become a doctor like me," said Ruby. "Doctors have much more stable incomes, and we get to help people!"
He would know that. He was a doctor.
"I want to be an actor," he told her. Ai would have wanted that.
"So you're in the performing arts program?" Kana's face lit up when seeing him nod. "That's great! It's good to see that you still have it in you. I was worried you stopped. Can you meet with me after—"
"Hey, you can't get my brother to ditch me like that!" Ruby put her hands on her hips with an obvious pout. "We should go straight home, just like we were told to!"
"Miyako would understand," Aqua told her.
"So you're gonna ditch me for a girl we just met again for the first time in years a few seconds ago? I won't have this!"
"I'm not going to kill him or anything," grumbled Kana. "We're not even going to my apartment."
Ruby's attention was now focused on her. "You live in an apartment?"
"Yeah? Where did you think I live?"
"I thought rich and famous people like you lived in mansions or something."
"Not every famous person lives in a mansion..."
Aqua was curious to see what Kana wanted. They hadn't gotten along the best when they were younger, but that was in the past; they were going to be adults soon—or, Aquamarine would be while Gorou already was one—which meant they had to treat each other like adults.
"We'll be fine," Aqua assured Ruby. "I'll explain everything to Miyako, and if anything happens to me, I give you full permission to—"
"To kick you in the nuts!"
Aqua hid a shudder. "Sure."
Ruby sighed but nodded. She lowered her voice. "Stay safe, okay? I don't trust her..."
Aqua nodded, but he didn't share the same suspicions. He was sure she had nothing to worry about, but he would still keep an eye on her.
. . .
ᴋᴀɴᴀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀQᴜᴀ walked into a coffee shop and ordered coffee and donuts. When they sat down with their food, Aqua asked, "Is there a reason you brought me here?"
Kana smiled. "I can't meet up with a childhood friend who I didn't see for more than a decade?"
"You never thought of us as friends."
"Said who?"
"Wouldn't you also want to meet with Ruby if that was true?"
"Well, Ruby's annoying." She paused and added, "Don't tell her I said that."
Aqua narrowed his eyes enough so she wouldn't notice. "Why did you bring me here?"
Kana sighed. "Well, first I just got interested when I heard Ruby say your name, and then I found out it was you, so that's good. Now that I found out you're still acting, I think I can help you with getting a role."
Aqua nodded. He was listening now.
"There's this project I'm a part of, a live action version of Today Will Be Sweet."
"Sweet Today?"
"You heard of it? Then that makes things kind of easier. So, it's a one season thing, and some of the episodes already aired, but there are still some roles open. I can ask the director, Masaya Kaburagi, to see if you can get something, and I don't think you have to do auditions or anything."
That felt too good to be true. "Do I have to do anything? Pay money, do favours?"
"None of that! If you want, I can just talk to the director, and you'll be on the show in no time!"
Aqua thought about it. He wasn't sure if it was a good show, but appearing in it might be a step closer towards becoming an actor. That would be one step closer to achieving Ai's wish for him to become an actor.
"Okay," he said. "I'll do it."
Kana smiled. "Great! I'll talk to Director Kaburagi, and you'll be ready to go! Just, umm..." She ducked her head. "Just know that the situation is kind of problematic on set, so be prepared for that, okay?"
Aqua didn't know if he liked what she meant by that.