Shining Stars

Chapter Forty-Five: Puzzle Pieces

I spent years of my life with Ai.

A bright blue light filled an otherwise dark room. Aqua, in his chair, stared at the monitor. His brow furrowed as his black pupil pondered the spreadsheet he had opened before him. He had looked it over dozens, hell maybe hundreds of times. All the people he knew had connections to Ai, who could be this mastermind? It was a question constantly in the back of his mind.

Even still, I feel like I never truly learned a single thing about her. She's remained an enigma to me...

Ai was what his eyes were focused on. The prices just didn't fall into place. Every her lie ended, to where her truths began... he couldn't tell. He could never tell.

What was Ai to Aqua? An Idol? A mother? Or perhaps...

Aqua shook his head slightly as he closed his eyes, getting those thoughts out of his mind. It was way too late for this... Aqua switched off his computer and made his way over to his bed. He was tired. Filming had been extra long that day... it seems they wanted as many shots of Akane as they could get... Perhaps as an apology for how bad they made her look on screen?

Whatever the case, he had to be up early for tomorrow... he had school. His filming schedule, combined with school and homework made him so busy he was surprised he even had time to sleep. He almost always maintained a good sleep schedule but filming had flipped that on its head.

"I hate Reality TV shows..."

He muttered, raising his arm so it covered his eyes. His body ached, he was pushing himself too hard. He found himself unable to care though, he had to hold to the vow he made twelve years ago. He didn't have the time to consider anything else.

Though Love Now also had put yet another thing into his mind. He needed clarification. He needed to find out what his real feelings towards Akane were. He had to know that his resolve wasn't growing weak, that he was still committed to finishing this... He couldn't allow himself to settle down.

"Ruby, I need to go home, I've got school tomorrow!"

Really... At this hour, could those two give it a rest..? Aqua groaned as he moved his arm off his eyes and stared blankly up at the ceiling, normally he would have gotten out of bed and told them to quiet down, but he found he lacked the energy to do so.

"Please! We can practice one more song right?!"

"No! Get the hell off me! You're gonna pull my shorts down!"

The next thing he heard was a scream of what could only be pure embarrassment before hurried footsteps rushed to the front door and slammed it shut... finally peace and quiet He could finally get some sleep.

Though suddenly his eyes shot wide as he had an idea. One that could help him with a few of his problems.

He found something way more productive than going to school tomorrow...

- - - - - -

Kana's whole world felt bleak, devoid of any color as if she was just there. She was walking to school like she normally did. Alone. She didn't mind walking to school alone. That's not what was bothering her this morning. More of Ruby clinging to her so desperately that...

God, what if Aqua saw..?

Though he didn't, so there really wasn't a reason to even worry about it she had a long day ahead of her.

Her eyes closed for a moment, enjoying the relative moment of peace, compared to being with Ruby twenty-four-seven, even if it was still loud with all the people talking. However, somehow, two voices from the crowd broke through all else.