~'¶\ Broken Lies \¶'~(Ai Hoshino X OC)

Chapter 15: Cresent Ross

-Kai / Oshi no Ko Universe-

-Abandoned Building-

"Listen up, Precocious Baby." Taishi called Aqua.

Aqua, who was watching the set do setups before filming, looked at Director.

"In Japan, casting is for the most part decided upon by the higher-ups. The bigger the budget for a project, the less it can afford to flop." explained Director.

Aqua nodded in response.

He continued, "In order to secure actors who are sure to draw viewers, the higher-ups have their own battles to fight. The directors with casting authority are the very select few super heavyweights or those working on low-budget, small-scale films."

"So, which do I look like to you?" Taishi asked the blue-eyed boy.

Aqua became somewhat nervous by this question, "Uh... a super-heavyweight direct-"

Before Aqua finished his sentence, Taishi turned back and chuckled, "Swing and a miss."

"We're on the set of a low-budget film here." said Taishi.

Miyako, who was carrying Ruby, now sleeping on her arms, walked to them and said, "Director, thank you for taking care of Aqua today."

"No, not at all. And we're on the same page about that matter, right?"

"Er, yes... Aqua has joined Strawberry Productions as for this month." Miyako nervously answered his question.

Taishi said frankly, "The thing is, there'll be hell to pay if I use a kid who's not affiliated with an agency."

Aqua interrupted, "In terms of acting, I feel like my sister is probably better than me."

Taishi gave him a menacing look while smiling, saying, "Nope, it's you I want. It's in exchange for your performance that I'm giving Ai a part."

"In this industry, we call it bartering." Taishi taps Aqua's head using the script.

"It's one of the fundamentals, so keep it in mind." Director advised him.

Before he went to the set, he asked Miyako, "Do you know where Star Boy is? I tried calling for him before and ended up in voice mail."

"Star Boy?" Aqua and Miyako had a confused look.

"It's a nickname I gave to Kai. I wanted him to do a nice editing job for me for this film." explained Director.

"The filming will start in a few hours," said Director as he went to the set.

"Bartering Ai-san for her own son... That stern-looking director had taken quite a liking to you, Aqua-san. What in the world did you do to make this happen?" Miyako said to Aqua.

"Nothing all that special." Aqua said it plainly.

"Old guys for some reason, tend to enjoy it when young people have a casual attitude with them, so I don't act pompously towards him at all." Aqua said while remembering his past life experience as a doctor.

"You're one dreadful baby..." Miyako sweatdropped at the response.

"By the way, where's Kai? I haven't seen him since the incident three days ago." she asked.

Aqua answered back, "He went back to this Time Nest thing, I guess... He should be back later."

"I see..." said Miyako.
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-Taiyang's house, Remnant-

Meanwhile, Kai was packing his backpack at Taiyang's house.

After visiting Ruby's gravestone, Kai made his way to Taiyang's house for a night before returning to his own world. The sun was setting, casting a warm golden glow over the landscape, and as he walked out from the familiar home, he felt a mixture of gratitude and sadness.