Shining Stars

Chapter Forty-One: Lover's Regret

The production team who faced the flames…

And the people who say whatever the hell they please…

"They really piss me off…"

Aqua said to himself as he walked alone. The cogs in his brain had already begun rolling. The heat wouldn't come off of Akane. Nothing was going to get better for her.

Well, that wasn't completely true.

Turning the corner he saw what he was looking for, the Press Box. Reporters from the major and local news outlets had reporters on stand by twenty-four seven, luckily, this one just so happened to have one.

Aqua opened the door the Press Box and two pairs of eyes immediately turned towards him, walking forward, and closing the door he looked both of the men in the eye.

"I have a story for you…"

- - - - - -

Miyako frowned as she looked at her phone, it had only been a day since Akane Kurokawa had attempted to end her life, and article after article kept popping up about it, despite not being publicly posted by anyone related to the show on social media, one could only guess at how the press could have gotten the scoop.

Miyako knew exactly who did it, and he was in the room with her. She looked up at the male, her eyes full of disapproval.

"You've gone and done it now. I was a foop to praise you. I trust you know what you're doing."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if this gamble is going to work."

Grabbing a camera he looked it over form a moment before turning to Myiako.

"The real reality show starts now."

"Really? Because of this, Akane isn't appearing on the show, there's no telling when she'll return… You really are a selfish child. Are you ready to take responsibility for making this a big story?"

"I don't see this as a bad bet, the amount of attention this gets is the amount of chips thrown in. If we fold too quickly, Akane will come out of this battered and bruised, without putting up a fight. You can't win in poker if you don't raise. So long as I have a single Ace, I'll play my hand."

"And that's how you lose it all…"

The pair of them turned as Ai stood there, her arms crossed, looking at Aqua. Myiako stood up and sent a glare at Ai, which didn't seem to faze her.

"I'll leave you two to it."

With that, Myiako left, leaving mother and son alone. The air seemed to get tense around them.

"Life isn't a game of poker, Aqua."

"I know it's not."

"Do you? You speak as if you've already won the hand."

"I have full confidence in the hand I've been dealt."

"And what if you lose."

"I won't."

"Don't think like that!"

Aqua was caught off guard by his mother's sudden shout, momentarily stunned into silence. She rarely ever raised her voice, and when she did, it meant she was serious.

"You can't keep just betting, everything! You'll lose eventually, you can't keep winning!"

"Well… how would you-"

"Because I lost everything in a single moment!"

Aqua fell silent, he just looked at his mother, who had tears falling from her eyes.