Shining Stars

Chapter Forty-Three: Shadows of the Past

Akane smiled at Aqua, her starry gaze sent shivers down his spine. She definitely was able to imitate Ai's eyes to a T... He felt his breath catch in his throat, taking a few steps forward towards the blonde actor, Akane put a finger to her lips as if to think.

"Work work work... is that all you care about?"

The camera crew didn't waste a moment. Having already started rolling, which Aqua had for once failed to even notice. Began to zoom in on the pair. His whole game was off because of Akane... He didn't like it, one bit.

"What you should be doing..."

Akane got closer and closer to Aqua, the distance between the two was almost too uncomfortable for Aqua. Raising her feet to be on her tiptoes, her face just inches away from his, she gave a teasing smirk.

"...is focusing on me~"

Aqua hadn't felt this way in... years... His mind and teenage hormones were fighting with each other for control over his body. One wanting to return to his usual calm and collected persona. While the other wanted nothing more than to give into Akane's advances.

Puberty was a bitch...

"I..."

Aqua couldn't for a sentence, Akane let out a sly smile, leaning in slightly, fluttering her eyelashes at him... were her lashes always that long..?

"What is it?? Cat got your tongue~"

She teased him, putting a knuckle on his chest before she backed up, which made Aqua let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Now that she had backed up, he could think properly. Akane really was a mini version of Ai... he remembered how Ai would always tease and flirt with (Y/n) like that... How did his father manage to hold it together for those long six years?

Clearing his throat, Aqua felt his nerves calm, his hormones die down. He was back to normal... for the most part anyway...

"You said you wanted me to focus on you?"

Akane nodded, beaming brightly at him. A shadow of Ai appeared behind her, also beaming at him. That was right, this was all an act...

Kana wasn't lying when she said she was a gifted performer...

"Well... now you have it."

Akabe smiled at him as the Camera crew nodded to each other, the Cameras lowered as they got off their posts to talk to each other, despite that, Aqua couldn't help but still feel nervous.

"Akane!"

A voice shouted, which barely gave Akane time to turn around and get nearly tackled into the ground by Mem-Cho, who wrapped her arms around the girl. A momentary look of surprise flashed across her face, her facade breaking for a moment before she pulled it back.

"Welcome back!"

Akane smiled as Mem-Cho's grip tightened around her for a moment before she pulled back, Akane reached out and cupped the girl's hands in her own, smiling.

"Sorry to have kept you all waiting."

"For real! We missed you!"

"Let's have some fun again, okay!"

Yuki joined in, which made Akane turn her attention towards her, smiling even more brightly than before.

"Yeah!"

Kengo, and Nobuyuki both watched the girls, both with concerned and skeptical looks on their faces. Nobuyuki, as always, was the first one of the pair to speak up.

"I'm glad you're looking well, but are you sure you're okay..?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Everyone looked at Akane, the smiles leaving Mem-Cho and Yuki's faces, now replaced with the look of concern that Nobuyuki and Kengi had. Unlike Aqua, they didn't notice it immediately, but it was easy to tell something was off.