My acting love - Watashi no engi ai (Aqua Hoshino x Akane Kurokawa)

Chapter 2 - Aqua vs Gouro

Aqua was having a... well.. let's just say a troubling time. Since Ai's death he had been mostly looked after by her director. While Aqua has never really enjoyed acting he sees it as a way to get his revenge. A way to get closer to the culprit behind leaking Ai's address to the fan, his father.

However, deep inside, Aqua felt intense internal conflict between his desire as Aqua to be a regular 16 year old boy, while Gouro (Aqua's identity before his reincarnation), wanted nothing but revenge. Revenge, revenge, revenge. All-consuming, eternal desire for revenge. Nothing could possibly quench those thoughts except the death of his father.

Except...

Aqua was tired of it. Tired of always living for revenge. Acting was necessary not only to get closer to his father but as a way to protect himself from the outside world and he wanted to show some form of enjoyment while doing it. Lying was not the way to go in real life even it was in acting and Aqua didn't want to have an act up forever. He needed his life to be more... well.. real.

Aqua had finished a live-action adaptation for a manga a while ago called "Today Will Be Sweet". There he saw an acquaintance from when he was still a child, Arima Kana, the former child actor prodigy. It caused him to realise that maybe acting didn't have to just be a shield or a disguise. It could be fun, exhilarating even. It seemed it was that way to Kana, who acted to bring up the people around her and bring them into the spotlight. It wasn't selfish at all, like Aqua's. Aqua shone as brightly as was needed to cover up for other's mistakes and bring up the show's ratings, thus bringing him closer to his goal.

This particular day, Aqua was lying on his bed, mulling over a new job offer for a reality dating show. It's director had some sort of connection to AI, he knew that. To get closer to this director would get him closer to his father. Finally, a breakthrough. But a dating sim? He could do it, but he would need to stay focused on the job at hand. Keep his performance up, use his Rizztopher Columbus magic, not get serious with anyone and get the hell out of there.

It wasn't long until the cast met up for the first time. Yuki Sumi was immediately dubbed by Aqua to be the talent of this show, with her natural beauty in her flowing, black hair and deep brown eyes as well as her incredible acting skills in full display. Another Yuki was also there in the form of Nobuyuki Kumano. He didn't seem to be any kind of acting legend, but he perfectly adequate.

Popular youtuber Mem-Cho was there too. Strange, he didn't think of her as the actor type, but oh well. Never judge a book by it's cover and all, but she was way too cutsie and bright for him. It was actually kind of irritating.

Then... there was Kengo Morimoto. Oh no. He was a good guy, put terrible under the glare of the camera. But, he was just charismatic enough to pull of a dating show role.

Finally, there was a somewhat strange girl. Akane Kurokawa. She seemed incredibly nervous, like she thought she didn't really fit in here. She did a good job putting up her mental defenses though, so Aqua doubted anyone except himself and possibly Sumi noticed it.

After they had all introduced themselves it was time to start they show. It was time for Aqua to put away his regular brooding demeanor, put the stars back in his eye and put on a happy face.

"Heya guys! You all nervous too?" Aqua had nailed it. The stars were bright, his smile was wide and his eyebrows were slightly upturned to convey a message of uncertainness. His blonde hair was swept over the eye that he had never managed to make the star sparkle in, which added to his overall charm.

Ruby and Arima Kana (who had become fast friends with Aqua and his sister), sat watching them from the TV at home. They were both incredibly spellbound. Until they weren't