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

Chapter 13 - the intervention

Hikaru smiled. It was all coming together now. The endgame was coming up. Just a few more days, and this chapter of life would be over with a new one right around the corner.

-----------------------------------------------------------Later--------------------------------------------------------------

"Hikaru! Where are you!? I need to speak to you!"

Hikaru startled in his chair. Damnit, not now, he needed more time. He had almost finished watching infinity war in 0.25x speed to find hidden details! Damn it, now he was distracted.

Hikaru sighed as he looked over to his security cameras. One of them showed Aqua at the front door, looking distressed. Is it possible..? No, not even Aqua would be that quick. He was only 16 after all.

He pressed down a button on his side table the connected his voice to a speaker perched on the camera. What is it? I'm busy. Besides, isn't this a direct violation of our contract? You can't just pop out of nowhere. Also - how the hell did you find my house!?"

Of course, Hikaru knew about the tracker. But he didn't need to worry Aqua with that detail.

"The contract was verbal, not written, so it isn't binding. As for how I found your house, it wasn't hard. You're a notorious man, Hikaru."

Hikaru chuckled. He should have expected this. Aqua WAS his son after all, though he would never admit in public those traits were inherited from him. Despite this, Aqua had made a mistake he couldn't amend. Hikaru was sure that would come in handy later. "Alright, I'm unlocking the door. Come on in.

----------------------------------------------------Aqua's POV-------------------------------------------------------------

Hikaru's house was grand, to say the least. Unlike Akane, who's house was humble and modern despite her acting success, Hikaru's home was almost a mansion, with pillars and chandeliers everywhere where they wouldn't look out of place. The bright white and red colour scheme of the near-mansion also directly contrasted Akane's unlit and conservative home of browns, blacks and blues. Aqua noted a smart watch lying on a charger next to a smart fridge, which in turn was adjacent to a smart oven. On the bench next to it sat a smart microwave, which Aqua could only assume was currently heating smart-pizza. Aqua didn't get the whole technology thing, being around 46 years old, and it irritated him. However, it was nice to have something else to distinguish him from his father.

Wait, when had Aqua started referring to Hikaru as his father? That was worrying.

"Ah, Aqua, welcome. I'm going to be honest, I never imagined you visiting my home. Whether it be because you don't trust me or because you don't like it's vibe or whatever you kids say these days. This must be important."

"It is. I've received a threat an anonymous number. An image of Akane and I in private. Someone's stalking us."

"And you think it's me? Seriously Aqua, we've been over this. I'm not-"

"I don't think it's you." Aqua snapped. "I've ran the numbers. It would have been impossible for you to get from here to Akane's on time even if you knew where it was. It must have been someone else."

Hikaru grinned. "Finally! Cleared of all charges by not only the jury, but also my son at last. Speaking of the slightly skewiff legal system, why not report this to the police instead of little old me?"

Aqua's face darkened even more. "I haven't cleared you of anything. You're still untrustworthy and a murderer. Which is exactly why I came to you."

The grin vanished from Hikaru's face. That gave Aqua a tiny shred of something that resembled a positive feeling. However, it was fleeting.

"I'm not even going to bother this time. Although I am and innocent man, my manager did have me take classes on how to avoid being stalked, how to know if you are and how to deal with it if police contact isn't possible. I'll help you with your little problem. However, this is on one condition."

-----------------------------------------A few hours later, Akane's POV-----------------------------------------------

Akane looked up from her phone as she saw Aqua finally drive away from this grand house. She was kind of jealous that Aqua got to even visit a house like that, but that wasn't the point. After Aqua had driven away, Akane got out of her hiding place around a corner. Her car was parked nearby in case she needed to make a speedy escape, but if Aqua had been fine, she would be too.

As Akane approached the behemoth of a building, she started getting cold feet. What if she didn't make it out of here? Who would know where she'd gone? Aqua would be her only hope, but she couldn't rely on him for this one. He seemed to be on almost friendly terms with this mystery man. Grinding her teeth, she shook off her nerves. She had to do this. She had to confront this man. She couldn't just sit idly by. hiding and waiting for something to change. She had to do this now. Besides, Akane had learned Karate for self defense. She was more than ready for any creepy old discord moderator that was monitoring her ever move behind a screen.

Not that a discord moderator would be able to afford this house, though. Thinking back, Akane had wished she'd been more careful.

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Tadaaa! A short chapter. Kinda ran out of steam halfway through. This is putting me one chapter behind schedule though. I'll probably make the other half of this chapter either today or tomorrow though, so don't worry. You're not missing out.

Shortangryblonde out!