23 The Day of Tokyo Dome

Today was the day of the Tokyo Dome, and the Hoshino family stayed in their apartment. Ai was engrossed in social media, eagerly sharing her excitement about the upcoming event. Ruby lay on the bed, while Aqua struggled to put on his jacket. Aikara, on the other hand, sat on a chair, fully prepared and waiting.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, capturing the attention of Ai, Aqua, and Aikara.

"Could that be the CEO?" Ai asked curiously, taking a step towards the door.

"I want to come too, Mom!" Aikara exclaimed, jumping out of his chair and skipping over to Ai. "It's boring to just wait here. Let me greet President Satou as well!"

Ai smiled at her child's enthusiasm, nodding energetically. "Of course, Aka!" she exclaimed, waiting for Aikara to join her by her side.

Together, they headed towards the door.

"Are you excited, Mom?" Aikara asked, looking at her with a bright smile and tilting his head. "It's the Tokyo Dome, the culmination of your success."

"Yes, I am!" Ai replied, matching his smile and tilting her head. "I hope you all enjoy my performance later!"

They would have continued their conversation, but they reached the door at that moment.

Ai opened the door and, to her surprise, instead of the expected CEO, she saw a young man wearing a grey jacket standing there, holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Hm?" Ai asked in confusion. She was about to inquire who he was, but he spoke before she could.

"Congratulations on your dome concert," he began, causing both Ai and Aikara to tilt their heads in confusion. "How are the triplets doing?" As he said this, he revealed something hidden within the bouquet, widening the eyes of Ai and Aikara.

Suddenly, memories of the past flooded Ai's mind. The birth of the triplets, their first birthdays, festive Christmas meals, shared baths, wearing Yukatas, comforting Ellie, the triplets' school dances, stargazing together, and countless other moments rushed through her thoughts.

The memories passed by in a blur as Ai felt a push from her side.

"Ai!" Aikara shouted as he enveloped her in a hug, throwing himself to the side.

But despite Aikara's effort to protect her, the knife still found its mark. Additionally, in his attempt to shield her, the knife grazed his arm, causing a deep wound and profuse bleeding.

With all his force, Aikara's weight wasn't enough to push her away in time. They crashed to the ground with a loud thud, the sound echoing through the apartment.

Curiosity piqued by the noise, Aqua opened the door, only to be greeted by the sight of Ai and Aikara lying on the floor, blood flowing from their wounds and staining the floor.

"Ai, Aikara!" Aqua shouted, rushing to their side.

"Ahh!" the man in the jacket exclaimed, gripping his head in frustration, his remorseful tone evident. "I didn't plan to involve the kid," he said, realizing something and pointing the knife at Ai, who lay weakly on the ground, clutching Aikara tightly as both Aqua and Aikara called out her name repeatedly.

"Wait, I'm not the one at fault here!" he said, his anger directed at Ai. "It's your fault, you slut! Having kids when you're an idol! Everything is your fault! You betrayed your fans, you slut!"

'Of course, that's how the world sees it. But idols are human too. Is it wrong for me to seek happiness?'

"You neglected your fans! I bet you were laughing at us behind our backs, liar!"

'I didn't go that far...'

"You damn liar!"

'An idol's job is to sell dreams. Always cute, pure, innocent, singing songs about honest love. But I'm not innocent, I'm unfair and flawed. I don't even know how to love someone. But for someone who's only seen as cute, lying is the only way to show love.'

"You kept spouting all that crap about liking us! They were all lies, weren't they!" he screamed in rage, pointing at Ai, who lay weakly on the floor, blood flowing from her stomach as she tightly embraced Aikara, who was bleeding profusely from his arm.

'I don't understand... love.'

Aqua, who had just arrived at Ai and Aikara's side, stared at the hooded man in shock. He did all this because of that?

Ai, lying on the floor, looked weakly at the hooded man as she spoke with a trembling voice.

"I have always been irresponsible. I'm such a hopeless human. I don't even know how to love someone. So instead, I've been spewing lies to make everyone else happy, hoping that someday those lies would become reality. I worked hard, persisted, and lied with everything I had. Lying, to me, is a form of love, in my own way." She paused, trying to catch her breath as blood continued to flow from her lips.

"I don't know if I truly loved you all, but I always sang those songs, wishing to love you all. Hoping that someday, it would become true." She weakly reached out her arm towards the hooded figure while lying on the floor, Aikara desperately trying to cover her stab wound to slow down the bleeding.

"Even now, I want to love you."

Hearing those words, the hooded man recoiled in shock, speaking defiantly. "Quit lying! I bet you don't even remember me. You just want me to let you go—" He couldn't finish as Ai spoke.

"Ryousuke, right?" she said, causing him to take a step back. "You came to my handshake events." Seeing the lack of change in the hooded man's expression, she weakly smiled, placing a finger on her head, despite Aqua's protests. "Sorry, I'm bad with names. But I really liked the star-shaped sand you gave me. It's still displayed in my living room, you know?"

Ryousuke visibly trembled, taking another step back. "What the hell?" he spoke in defeat, clutching his head. Tears streamed down his eyes as he began to speak. "That's not..." He didn't continue, bolting out of the apartment.

As soon as he left, Ai seemed to relax, letting out a sigh.

"Come here right away!" Aqua shouted into the phone, desperation lacing his voice.

"Ugh, I let my guard down. That's why door chains exist. They never taught me that at the children's home."

Aikara, desperately trying to cover Ai's wounds despite his own bleeding arm, spoke up. "Don't talk so much, Mom! You'll die if you keep going."

Aqua, having finished the call, hurried over to check Ai's wound.

'Shit, it pierced her pancreas. There's internal bleeding, inflammation, and damage to the surrounding organs.' Aqua thought as he hyperventilated upon realizing where she had been stabbed. Saving her might not be possible.

Aikara seemed to sense Aqua's despair as he weakly hugged Ai. "Mom, please don't leave us! We need you—all three of us. I promise to be a good boy, any kind of boy you want. So please, stay alive!"

Ai smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, I don't think I'll make it." She grabbed Aikara's bleeding arm weakly. "Oh no, you got hurt too, Aikara. Are you okay? I'm sorry for dragging you into this."

Aikara's eyes widened for a moment as he spoke in a trembling voice. "Don't apologize, Mom." He choked back tears. "I'm not hurt at all."

She lightly tapped his forehead with her finger, leaving a stain of blood. "No need to lie, Aikara. One liar is enough in the family."

Aikara's voice quivered with emotion as he looked down. "I'm a liar too, you know?" he said without further clarification.

Ai smiled solemnly, gesturing for Aqua to come closer. Because if he didn't, even if she spoke as loudly as she could, her weakened voice wouldn't reach his ears.

"I wonder if today's dome concert will be canceled," she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "I feel bad for everyone. And just when the film schedule was being finalized too. Please apologize to the director for me."

Suddenly, they heard the door creak open as a familiar voice reached their ears. "What's happening, you guy-" Ruby couldn't finish her sentence as Aqua shouted at her, preventing her from opening the door.

"Don't come in, Ruby!" Aqua's desperate voice echoed, startling Ruby as she took a step back.

"Why are you saying that Aqua nii?" She asked.

"Just listen to me right now damn it!" Aqua shouted, and Ruby nodded with a heavy heart as she closed the door once again, successfully retreating without seeing anything.

Ai began to drag her body across the floor, surprising Aqua and Aikara.

"What are you doing, Ai? Don't strain yourself," Aqua said, frantically moving around her.

Ai seemed to ignore him, making her way to the door and leaning against it, effectively blocking Ruby from opening it.

Hearing the thud, Ruby pounded on the door, shouting, "Tell me! What's happening in there?"

"Ruby," Ai said, capturing Ruby's attention. "Your dance at the recital was fantastic. You might become an idol yourself one day. A mother-daughter performance sounds so fun."

She paused for a moment, trying to catch her breath as tears started to trickle down her cheeks. "And I'm sure Aqua and Aikara will become successful actors. I wonder what kind of adults you three will become."

She glanced at a picture frame, where she was hugging Ruby and Aqua with Aikara sitting atop her head.

"I wish I could see the three of you with your backpacks on. At the school open house, I want to hear people say, 'Isn't Ruby's mom super young?' And during late-night shows, I want to keep hearing people say we're a great mother-son duo, Aikara. I wish I could watch the three of you grow up by my side." Tears continued to flow down her face.

"I wasn't the best mom, but I'm glad I had the three of you." She seemed lost in thought for a moment. "What else should I say? Oh, I need to say this."

She placed her bloody hand on the door, using her arm to embrace Aqua and Aikara. "Ruby, Aqua, Aikara, I love you."

___

(Aikara's POV)

I love you.

The moment I heard those three words come out of her mouth, I wasn't able to hear the conversation more as my mind got stuck to those three words.

I love you.

It's something I casually say, because unlike Ai who had a hard time loving, I had an easy time to love others but had a hard time to be loved.

I thought that the moment Ai said these words, I would be happy. But, as I remember the reason she's saying this in the first place, tears start threatening to escape from my eyes.

It's fine if you don't say you love me Ai.

Even if you didn't say it after dozens of years, I'm fine with it.

If it meant you could have lived, I would have gladly thrown away my greed for your love without a second thought.

Because, I relate to you the most Ai.

We're both liars.

We both lie because of love.

I understand why you do that.

Because at the end of the day, we're just greedy people.

Is it because of that I love you so much, that I'm able to throw away my greed for your love?

I don't know, and I'll never be able to find out.

Because..

A warm, crimson hand brushed against my cheek, prompting me to turn my gaze towards Ai standing before me. To my dismay, the twinkle in her eyes had lost its brilliance, leaving behind a vacant stare.

You're dead.

Is it because of me?

Even though I pushed her, it wasn't enough.

If only I was stronger, faster, heavier, then maybe Ai wouldn't have to die.

Plus, I pushed her didn't I?

If I didn't push her, maybe she would have been stabbed in a non-fatal area.

If that's the case, then I killed her.

I can't bear the guilt if that's true.

Yet, the most painful thing is, I'll never be able to find out if I'm actually the one who killed her because I can't go back to the past.

For the first time in a long while, I let out tears that wasn't an act. They were my true feelings at the moment, and while I would have been happy at finding some of my 'True self' among these webs of lie, all that remains is sadness and despair. Because the moment I felt true, was also the moment I lost one of the most important people in my life.

___

A.N

Rest in peace Hoshino Ai.

I'm sorry to the readers who wanted her to live, I really am.

I didn't want her to die too.

In fact, I had another story plan in mind where she died.

But, I realized, isn't she too powerful?

She has such a big influence in the entertainment world, and any future antagonist will cower in fear after hearing her name.

She's simply too powerful for the plot.

I understand if you would drop this.

Once again, I'm very sorry.

You could see a what-if in the next chapter though, it was my original plan, and even though it isn't cannon, I'll still show it to you.