The door to the house, which was quiet as usual, opened, and the figure who appeared was a much younger-looking Hoshino Ai.
"Huh? Oh? This place feels kind of familiar?"
It was a house the young Ai had never seen before, but she slowly began to look around, feeling as if she had lived there. After checking every room except for those on the second floor, the young Ai seemed to lose interest. Just as she was about to sit on the sofa in the living room to organize her thoughts and take a rest, she heard the sound of the front door opening.
"Ai, both Aqua and Ruby are coming back later this afternoon, and we don't have any schedules today. Is there anything you want to do?"
"Hmm... Today is a day with nothing special, so I'm going to roll around at home with Yume all day long!!!"
To the young Ai, the voice of a man she had never heard and a mature version of her own voice—what she might sound like when she grew up—began to drift in.
An unknown emotion surged from deep within the young Ai's chest.
Prompted by those voices, she sat on the sofa, tilted her head back over the top of the cushions, and wondered what this strange feeling was.
"Hmm... This is a really weird feeling..."
Despite the odd sensation, the young Ai didn't stop looking around and slowly scanned the living room.
Her body seemed to know that this place was very familiar, yet in her mind, this was definitely the first time she had ever been here.
As she continued to ponder, a man with striking red hair and red eyes, Hoshino Yume, walked into the living room, and their eyes met.
[First Person: Hoshino Yume]
As soon as I entered the house, I felt an unfamiliar presence. Just in case, I didn't say anything to Ai and walked ahead slowly into the living room where I felt the presence.
And then, I saw an unbelievable sight. I don't know why, but sitting on the living room sofa was a girl who looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old.
But the important thing wasn't her age; it was that her appearance was the spitting image of a young Hoshino Ai.
My face was probably frozen with the expression of someone who had just seen something impossible.
I hurriedly turned my head to check on Ai, who was following behind me.
"Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that, Yume? Is there something there?"
With those words, Ai walked up beside me and also locked eyes with the 'Young Ai' sitting on the sofa. Naturally...
"...Yume, I think something is wrong with my eyes. I mean... that's me, isn't it?"
I wasn't sure if I should praise Ai for her quick intuition in recognizing herself instantly, or...
"Don't you think there's a better way to refer to her than 'that thing,' Ai?"
Should I scold her for calling a young child "that thing"?
"Whoa! I've grown old!"
The young girl shouted while pointing her finger at Ai. I couldn't help but let out a startled snort. Ai glared at me as if she didn't appreciate my reaction, so I fearfully averted my eyes.
"By the way, who are you?"
You're asking that now? It was certain. This girl was definitely Ai from her childhood.
The young Ai's finger moved from pointing at Ai to pointing at me.
"Hmm? Yume is just Yume."
Ai introduced me on my behalf. Her expression looked as if she was wondering why the girl was even asking such an obvious question.
"I've never seen this person before!!! More importantly, who is he!! No, I'm asking where this place is!"
The young Ai cut off adult Ai and, albeit a bit late, began asking where she was and who Ai and I were.
"This is the home for me, Yume, Aqua, and Ruby!! Besides, who are you!? I was planning on rolling around at home with Yume all day today!!"
Actually, I'd appreciate it if you'd give the 'rolling around all day' a rest. If I just roll around doing nothing, my body gets stiff and it actually becomes painful...
More importantly, please wait to cling to my arm until we've sorted this situation out... My head is a mess. What is going on?
"Ai, let go for just a second."
I gently pushed Ai aside and tried my best to grasp the situation, but eventually...
"I give up. I don't think I can wrap my head around this situation at all."
Because it was so confusing, I massaged the back of my neck and declared my surrender.
"Eh? I'm Hoshino Ai, so who are you, old lady?"
...Oh, this is getting serious.
The way that child spoke with a beaming smile was exactly like the mischievous Ai I knew from the past. No, I guess they had to be alike. After all, both of them were 'Hoshino Ai.'
"Huh!? Who are you calling an old lady!? Ai is still a vibrant, active actress, you know!?"
"But to me, you are an old lady."
Admittedly, from the perspective of the young Ai sitting on the sofa, calling Ai or me an old lady or an old man wasn't technically wrong based on our age.
But from the perspective of Ai, who hated being called an old lady, it seemed to make her angry that her younger self would call her older self that.
And the young Ai, who dropped that bomb and then tilted her head innocently, was also quite something.
"Oh, that's right! You said earlier this was Ruby and Aqua's house, right? Are they home?"
Well, technically it's my house, too...
Watching the young girl clap her hands as if she just remembered something, a firm hypothesis began to form in my mind.
As I watched the young girl look back and forth between Ai and me with eyes that seemed full of envy, my hypothesis turned into a conviction.
"Huh? No, they're at Ichigo Production right now! Ruby is practicing, and Aqua... went to see Director Taishi, right?"
Why do you sound so unsure, Ai...?
"I'm sorry, but Aqua and Ruby aren't scheduled to be back until the afternoon. I want to ask just in case... is your name really Hoshino Ai?"
Even though I was convinced, I still wanted to hear it from her own mouth to be absolutely certain.
"Hmm? Yes, I'm Hoshino Ai! By the way, where is this? It feels so familiar!!"
Familiar? There's no way it should be familiar, so how...?
I was busy processing this new, inexplicable information from the young girl's words.
"Well, isn't it natural for it to be familiar? This is the house Yume and I have lived in ever since we left the facility!"
"????????"
At adult Ai's words, the young girl stared blankly at Ai as she stroked the walls like she was reminiscing, with a look that said she had no idea what Ai was talking about.
Then her gaze eventually turned back to me.
"But... I've always lived alone?"
Seeing the young girl's confusion, I tried to figure out what to say.
"Huh? You lived alone? You didn't meet Yume at the facility?"
Thanks to adult Ai looking at the young girl with equally confused eyes, I had an opening.
"Hmm... You lived alone when you were young...?"
The words came out as a quiet mumble, but that wasn't the important part.
Because of her statement about living alone since she was young, a small sense of dissonance began to pull at me, and that dissonance allowed a single possibility to flash through my mind.
[Is this child perhaps the Hoshino Ai who was the protagonist of Oshi no Ko that I saw in my past life? The Hoshino Ai of the original story who never met me... But how? And why is she alive? No, more than that, looking at her now, she's at least twelve... maybe thirteen at most, yet it's strange that she knows Aqua and Ruby... Just... what is this dissonance?]
However, the important thing for me wasn't the identity of the Hoshino Ai in front of me, but the fact that this 'Hoshino Ai' was also my family. Therefore, in this situation, I just had to protect her.
With that in mind, I looked at the young girl.
"Those eyes of yours are a bit weird and creepy. I'd appreciate it if you stopped looking at me that way."
—From the young Ai's perspective, this was clearly a person she was seeing for the first time. But because Yume's eyes were looking at her as if he needed to protect her, she felt a sense of rejection toward his gaze.—
Creepy... That's a bit much...
"Heeh?"
I was troubled by the young girl's reaction, but adult Ai seemed to have noticed something and smiled as if she found it interesting.
"Well now... it seems she might be an even more difficult child than I was, huh?"
My head was starting to hurt, thinking about how to approach the situation as I watched the young girl, whose vigilance toward us was clearly maxed out from the start.
"What's wrong with me? I'm perfectly fine!"
Watching me lament, the young girl spoke in a breezy tone that seemed quite lighthearted...
But how am I supposed to handle this when I see her naturally keeping her distance...?
Ai seemed to find my pitiful look as I stared at the distancing young girl quite hilarious.
"Ahahaha~! So you're running away? I guess that makes sense. If you're the version of me who didn't meet Yume, I can totally see you acting that way. Right, Yume!"
Ai looked halfway certain that the child was indeed herself if she had never met me. With a tone mixed with a desire to tease the young girl, Ai approached me, looked at me with an affectionate expression, and then fell into my arms.
"I'm pretty sure you were quite similar when you first arrived at the facility..."
I stroked the hair of the Ai in my arms and mumbled half-heartedly as I remembered her when we first met at the facility.
The young girl looked at the two of us acting this way with eyes that suggested she didn't understand the relationship.
"What is your relationship?"
The young girl probably already had her suspicions, but in a typical Ai fashion, she wouldn't jump to conclusions without being sure.
"Hmm? What kind of relationship does it look like to you?"
Ai spoke in a mocking tone without even thinking of leaving my arms...
Hey, she's still a kid, that tone isn't very nice...
Adult Ai and the young girl glared at each other as if lasers were shooting from their eyes, and the young girl's expression naturally began to twist.
Whether she noticed my gaze or not, she quickly covered her distorted face with the 'lie' of a smile, which somehow made me feel sorry for her.
"I don't know, and I don't really care... Oh, more importantly, show me the photos of Ruby and Aqua first!!"
Did she think Ai and I didn't notice her expression twist? She hurriedly tried to change the subject.
"Pffft! Aren't you being a bit too blatant~?"
Ai seemed to have realized something. She slowly approached the young girl and stroked her hair with the gentle touch of a mother stroking her child.
The young girl, perhaps feeling uncomfortable being stroked with such affection, slapped the hand away with a 'thwack.'
"Don't touch me!! You'll mess up my hair!"
She really has the personality of a stray cat.
Watching the young girl stick her tongue out while staying guarded like a stray cat, adult Ai acted like she was watching a comedy show.
"Ahahahaha~!!! Why are you acting so offended? Ah! Is it that? You hate being stroked by someone with such an affectionate touch?"
I let out a sigh as I watched Ai pull and push like she was playing a game with a stray cat.
"That's enough, Ai."
I decided I needed to separate the two of them quickly. I put my hands under Ai's armpits, lifted her up, and sat her on the sofa, then sat down beside her.
"For now... it looks like you two have a lot to talk about. Why don't you sit down and talk for a bit?"
I needed to be as careful as possible to gather the most information... Phew...
Upon my suggestion, the young girl looked around slowly, then gave a cautious nod and sat directly across from us.
However, she sat as far away as possible on the sofa from Ai and me.
To be honest, it was quite cute.
Having sat down at Yume's suggestion, the young girl thought she needed to prioritize understanding the situation, as she had no clue what was happening.
She figured if anyone else was in her position, they would have acted the same. She had opened her door as usual and walked in, only to find herself dropped alone in a completely different place, so she couldn't help but feel this way.
"So... who are you? Why are you with the old version of me? I've never seen someone like you before."
"Hmm... I'm not sure where to begin explaining, but first, my name is Hoshino Yume, and this is..."
Giving my name was fine, but how was I supposed to explain the Ai sitting next to me...?
No, in times like this, the direct approach might be better.
"...And I'm the husband of the Hoshino Ai here. I'm also the father of the Hoshino Aqua and Ruby you wanted to see. Is that a satisfactory introduction?"
As soon as Yume's introduction ended, the Ai sitting next to him burrowed into his chest and stared at the young girl with a boastful, 'Are you jealous?' look in her eyes.
"Eh, Ruby and Aqua's... dad?"
After hearing my introduction, the young girl looked at me with an indescribable gaze. Well, that makes sense. In the original story, the father of Ruby and Aqua was... Kamiki Hikaru.
"Given that you also know Aqua and Ruby, it seems that 'for now,' you are the Hoshino Ai I know."
I spoke while looking at the young girl with a sympathetic expression.
I couldn't help that gaze. In my previous life, I had felt so much pity for the Hoshino Ai who was the protagonist of Oshi no Ko, so I couldn't help but wonder how the 'original' Ai in front of me was feeling.
In response to Yume's gaze, the young girl tilted her head, not understanding why he sounded as if he knew her so well.
"What does that mean...? You 'for now' know me?"
"Is the thing I just said really the most important thing to you right now?"
'Is this really all the information you want? After all, you're Hoshino Ai.'
The young girl seemed to understand my look.
"That's... true..."
After nodding at my words, she looked at me and said,
"It's so weird that Ruby and Aqua are your children, and that I'm alive.
Why didn't I die?"
In response to her question...
"Why you didn't die... I see..."
'So the young girl in front of me really was murdered by Kamiki.'
I pondered for a moment before stroking the hair of the Ai in my arms.
"Then, do you happen to believe in fate?"
"No? Fate is something I carve out for myself!!"
The young girl spoke energetically, but if believing in fate meant her own death was destined, she was someone who definitely didn't want to believe in it.
"...You sound determined, but you look quite anxious... Well, I'll let that be for now."
'Refusing to believe in fate is probably because you don't want to believe you were destined to die. What I'm about to say will probably hurt her, but in this situation, I have to be clear...'
"Hoshino Ai, you've already experienced death, haven't you?"
'So, I'm sorry.'
"........."
The moment the word 'death' came out of Yume's mouth, the young girl's smile slowly faded, eventually turning into a expressionless face as she stared at him.
"You knew? That I died.
Yes, I died. Was it Ryosuke? That person stabbed me in the stomach, and I died.
But why does that have to be fate? I wanted to see the children grow up, too.
I wanted to act alongside the kids.
So why did I have to die? Why? Why? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The word 'death' must have been the trigger, as the young girl screamed at Yume as suppressed emotions exploded. But then she took deep breaths to calm herself down.
When she returned to her smiling face, she said this.
"Ah! Sorry for screaming!"
She stuck out her tongue as she spoke to Yume.
"...I see. So those are your true feelings. At least your emotions haven't completely dried up yet."
'I suppose I should be satisfied for now that I heard her truth.'
I gently let go of the Ai who had been watching the young girl with startled eyes.
Then I slowly approached the young girl sitting in front of me.
"Don't come any closer."
Even though she said that with a smile, I wouldn't have accepted adult Ai in the first place if I was the type to be pushed away that easily.
"It's okay. There's nobody else here. All the buildings around here are managed by the company I work for, and only people living here are under our care. No one here will hurt you. Isn't that right, Ai?"
I spoke while slowly calming the young girl down and looking at the Ai behind me, who was making a mischievous face like she was planning some prank.
"Hmm? No, actually, I might want to pull a prank...?"
Even though she said that, I couldn't help but smile because she knew my heart better than anyone.
"...I still don't believe you. Do you think I want to be betrayed again?"
The way the young girl growled made her seem like a wild stray cat. Ah, I think I thought the same thing earlier...
"What's this? You're just a coward, aren't you? Pfft~"
While I was thinking to myself, I heard Ai laughing behind me. Her tone sounded like she was genuinely teasing the young girl.
"Hmph! Go away, old lady!!"
"Ah..."
That was a trigger she definitely shouldn't have pulled with Ai...
The young girl stuck out her tongue while getting angry at Ai. And Ai likewise...
"What!? Yume, this brat is seriously annoying me! Kick her out!!!"
I guess she really couldn't handle being called an old lady...
"Now, now, Ai, we're almost thirty, aren't we? Actually, I'm over thirty, so it's not weird for people to call us an old man or an old lady... And what am I supposed to do if you kick such a small child out...?"
I was persuading her as if I were dealing with a child who never grew up. But the most surprising thing was Yume's physical ability; he had suddenly moved behind the young girl and was stroking her hair.
"Ugh, don't stroke my hair! Why do you keep doing that!!"
The young girl was a little surprised that Yume was suddenly behind her, but she swiped his hand away with a 'thwack.' Her hair was tied with the same bunny hair tie that Ai had worn during her days in B-Komachi.
"Don't hit my Yume, you brat!!"
Ai, when did you get over here...?
I felt a strange sense of guilt as I watched the young girl glare back and forth between us while rubbing the head that Ai had smacked.
"Ugh... why do you keep touching my head..."
The young girl slowly backed away, wary that Yume might stroke her head again.
"Old man, are you a lolicon?"
"...I can't believe I'm hearing the word lolicon in my life."
I think I might faint from the shock right here...
Shaken by her shocking accusation, I slumped onto the sofa.
"Yume, were you actually a lolicon!?"
Ai, looking like she had finally caught me in something, circled around me and teased me anyway.
"Heh... Old man, you're whipped, aren't you?"
The young girl spoke while watching me as if she were watching an entertaining TV program.
"Yeah, I'm whipped. But I don't really hate it. I'm satisfied."
'Yeah, I'm more satisfied with this life than anyone.'
I caught Ai as she circled around me, pulled her into my arms, and hugged her tight.
"So, won't you trust me, too?"
Since I was hugging Ai with my right arm, I held out my free left hand to the young girl.
"Well, just this once."