Love Under The Spotlight | Oshi no Ko [Hoshino Aqua x OC]

Chapter 32

When they got a taxi and reached the hotel, Himeka and Luke rapidly packed their last few items and joined the whole crew. They boarded the cars and headed to the airport for a thirteen-hour flight. They would land in Tokyo around twelve in the morning. The shoot was scheduled at three in the afternoon so Himeka would just have the time to go back home, take a quick shower, and change outfits before heading to the studio to shoot the commercial for Tasaki. If they were lucky, it wouldn't end too far into the night and Himeka would get enough sleep to recover for the final show at the Bodukan the night after. It was a tight schedule but she should be able to make it work.

The flight felt faster than expected as Himeka spent the whole of it sleeping. If she was about to work for hours right after a long flight, she needed to store as much energy as possible. Flying in business class helped a lot but sleeping in a plane was still not ideal. After checking and getting their luggage back, TrIII and the staff crew all headed to the arrival gate. Similar to what had happened in other countries, some fans came to welcome them at the airport. Luke, Leo, and Himeka all waved at them and even conversed a bit as they were heading out of the airport. They also took the flowers, plushies, or letters that were handed to them by the fans. Those who came did not seem to mind that the group was composed of two male idols and one female idol. There were some solo fans, but none were being disrespectful. It appeared that the controversy upon their debut had now died down.

"Opal! You're friends with B-Komachi's Ruby, right?" a fan asked. "Did you know she was B-Komachi's Ai's daughter?"

Himeka froze for a second and her eyes, luckily hidden behind sunglasses to hide her dark circles, widened. She could also see at the corner of her eyes, Leo and Luke looking at the fans with surprised faces as the whispers arose from the crowd.

"I heard about it!" another fan said. "Hoshino Aqua and Hoshino Ruby are Ai's twin children!"

"Yeah, the article dropped in the night! Ai got them when she was sixteen!"

The fans wanted to hear Himeka's opinion of it, but Himeka kept quiet. Hiroto had stepped between the fan and Himeka and told them that she had a tight schedule to follow. So he led her to the car. Himeka briefly noticed a crow near her car and after bidding goodbye to the fan but also to Leo and Luke, Himeka boarded the vehicle and Hiroto began driving back home. Himeka immediately took her phone and turned it on. When she opened Twitter, Ai's name, but also Aqua and Ruby's name were trending. The Weekly Entertainment True Story released an article revealing the truth behind Ai's hiatus eighteen years ago and implied that the stalker who murdered her knew about the twins.

Himeka began pondering. She already suspected that Aqua and Ruby were Ai's children. It seemed that that peculiar child back in Miyazaki wanted to put her on the lead for reasons that were unknown to her. What was also quite strange was the timing of this reveal. If Miyako handled the situation well, she could turn this scandal into a beautiful story. Ruby was a member of the new B-Komachi and had already expressed her desire to perform at the Dome one day. It was clear that she wanted to pursue her mom's dream. But such information, the twin's true identity and Ai's pregnancy was too big of an information to be leaked. Why would Aqua reveal such a thing? Why would he risk his mom's reputation? A trade of information? Did Strawberry Production want to cover something else? Even if that was the case, it was still a very bold move.

Was he trying to find his father? It must be the case. Strawberry Production could have found another way to cover whatever they wanted to cover. They even could have paid the reporter not to say anything, or perhaps find another information to trade. The reveal of the twins' true identity was like a bomb dropped in the entertainment industry. But it also inevitably puts the people's focus on one question: who is the father?