In the end, the day after Ai had consumed my entire day, when we slipped out of the deserted hotel, our faces were polar opposites.
"Mmm...!! That felt amazing!"
Ai, with vitality overflowing from her face.
"Yeah... that's really a relief..."
And me, looking completely drained as if all my energy had been sucked out.
I let out a sigh...
Mustering what little strength I had left, I headed for the car, with Ai pushing me from behind.
"Hey, ease up on the pushing, Ai."
"Oh, come on! Yume, why are you so weak now?"
"And who do you think is to blame for that?"
I had been squeezed dry all day without a single lie—completely sincere. I don't even remember how much we did, non-stop with no breaks.
I never expected Ai, who usually doesn't exercise at all, to have such overwhelming stamina in this regard.
I let out a sigh. "Let's just get in the car and head home slowly."
"Yes!"
As usual, I put Ai in the passenger seat, got behind the wheel, and drove home slowly and safely. As soon as we arrived, Aqua saw my state and gave me a sympathetic look, so I collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.
When I woke up, I couldn't sense Aqua or Ruby around, and only Ai was lying next to me, sound asleep just like I had been.
As always, after finishing work, I was watching the reality show 'Jikume Real' on my tablet, which Aqua appears in.
A rather interesting situation had unfolded.
[Hoshino Aqua]
In the classroom bathed in the glow of sunset, the usual members had gathered, but only one girl was leaning against the window, tears streaming down her face.
"I want to quit Jikume Real now."
"What!?"
"Suddenly, in the middle!?"
"Why would you say that!?"
Sumi Yuki's statement seemed to have taken the other members aback, as they all spoke to her in worried tones.
"Lately... at school, the boys keep teasing me, asking if I like this kind of guy..."
"Showing your feelings of liking someone to others is this scary!"
"I had no idea before starting... being noticed by so many people isn't all good!"
No one there knew whether it was acting or sincere, and the one who responded to Yuki's statement was.
"MEM-cho also does a lot of silly things on her personal channel, so I know what you mean and how it feels. Everyone thinks I'm a fool, well, I am a fool, but..."
For a moment, Aqua thought, 'Is she an idiot?'
"So, are you really going to quit?"
"I'll listen to you anytime!! If Yuki quits, I'll quit too!"
As soon as Akane finished speaking, Kumano Nobuyuki shouted.
"Nobu..."
"Don't say that! Let's keep going!"
"I..."
After filming, the six members gathered in the classroom were each looking at their smartphones, and among them, Sumi Yuki, who was the main focus of this episode, was.
"Look at this! An article came out!! I contributed a bit to viewer engagement, right?"
"I guess so."
Aqua brushed it off appropriately.
"But are you really going to leave the show?"
"Huh? I can't leave. I still have a contract..."
"What?"
It's only natural that with a contract in place, quitting arbitrarily is difficult for anyone without a certain level of recognition.
"So, were you acting?"
"No, no... I'm not a professional actor like Kurokawa-san. How could I act? I just exaggerated my feelings a bit."
"It's true that I was teased at school and felt sad, and I really thought about quitting."
She let out a sigh. "Because we start filming at dawn, and I'm really too sleepy..."
Akane asked as if genuinely curious, but the answer was unexpectedly lukewarm.
"Ahaha, I see. So it's not a lie, but an exaggeration."
MEM-cho laughed it off appropriately.
"So it's an exaggeration..."
Akane was jotting down Yuki's actions in her notebook. Aqua, watching this,
'As we appeared together and grew closer, I started to see each person's character.'
'Sumi Yuki and MEM-cho are skilled ones.'
'Kumano Nobuyuki is unadorned but charming.'
'Morimoto Kengo and Kurokawa Akane are ones who don't stand out on the show, so they get less screen time.'
"Ah, right! Let's go eat after this!"
But dinner is always supposed to be eaten together at home, so that might be difficult.
"No, I'm fine. I have food at home."
I should be able to decline appropriately.
"Aw, come on! Let's go together!"
"MEM-senpai is treating us to meat!"
Meat... you say?
"What!? When did I say that!!"
"We know all about it~ Your subscribers have increased lately, so you're totally loaded, right?"
"I heard you split it 50-50 with your agency?"
"Really!? Ours is 80-20... I'm jealous..."
'50-50, huh... Well, I'm also 50-50. Actually, was it 60 for me and 40 for the company? On this side, since Yume (father) handled it, he made it so I couldn't touch it, which was just troublesome.'
In reality, when Yume consulted with Miyako, he tried to make it 50-50, but Miyako instead proposed 60-40, so Yume accepted it as is.
That was because he judged that if they knew he was behind it, work would naturally come in. Miyako, knowing this, had offered that option.
I muttered under my breath...
'In the end, I followed along. I should think about what excuse to make when I get home.'
"Ah, damn it!! Extra special platter!!! Eat up, you kids!!!!"
"Yahoo!" "Yahoo!" "Yahoo!" "Yahoo!"
'At home, we eat meat every day, but eating meat like this is also different.'
At home, beef or chicken was always a must. Since Yume's three meals a day rarely lacked protein, meat-based proteins were always included.
"Aqua-san, the ribs are ready."
'You don't have to hand it over like that.'
"I'll grill my own, so don't worry about it."
'To begin with.'
"Kurokawa-san, you haven't been eating at all since earlier."
"No, since I'm an actor, I've decided to never put down the tongs at gatherings like this! At first, I often burned things and got scolded, but now I can grill well."
'Wow, if Yume (father) knew, he would immediately snatch the tongs and force-feed her, full of such thoughts.'
"Exactly! What viewers want these days is more extreme content. Depending on how much risk you take, your options change, I guess..."
'She's diligent... More than that, our family probably doesn't like extreme things that much.'
After the meat party, Aqua headed home like that.
"Aha~ a meat dinner party, how luxurious. The meat must have been very tasty while looking at cute kids, right?"
"Aqua, did you eat a lot of meat?"
"Ruby, don't say too much to Aqua. First of all, Aqua going out is part of social life..."
"Despite what father says, this is just social life."
'Nice assist, Yume (father)'
The father and son quietly exchanged glances.
"Lies! Your face is overflowing with satisfaction!"
'Caught, huh.'
"It's not overflowing."
Aqua tried to quietly avert his gaze, but
"Look me in the eye and say it!!"
'A young body can eat greasy food endlessly without any discomfort, it's really the best.'
"To begin with, we promised to eat dinner together!! Since the show started, you sometimes skip it!!"
The one who subdued Ruby, who was rampaging wildly, was none other than Yume, and Yume, who pulled her into his arms from behind, was.
"There, there, Ruby, stop that. Ai and I are also sometimes busy and can't eat dinner together, so think of it as the same thing."
"But Papa..."
"Good girl, good girl."
Now, with Ruby instead clinging to Yume's embrace and Ai patting Ruby's head like that.
'... From now on, I should eat at home. Maybe cut back a bit.'
Aqua ended up doing the dishes as punishment, while Yume and Ai were watching TV in the living room, and only Ruby kept arguing beside Aqua, muttering.
"To begin with, that show has the concept of gathering after school! But they only film on weekends! It's a scam, a scam!"
"That doesn't really matter... Prioritizing studies is great.
And love reality shows have fewer lies than you think.
Some participants openly cheat, but.
Most just try to package themselves as much as possible.
Everyone does that in real life too.
If you go to a group mixer, you can probably see the same scene."
"I've never been, so I don't know..."
'I guess so. To begin with, Yume (father) would never allow it.'
"Ruby! Mixers are not allowed!!!!"
"Oh, come on! Yume!! Ruby is an adult now!"
"Don't be ridiculous! Dating is too early for a high school student... Oof.. oof!?"
"Sorry~ I'll quiet Papa down."
"....To begin with, I'm a Papa-con...."
"Who doesn't know that."
'This one also only looks at Ai (mother).'
"Ahem!! So, is everyone really dating?"
"That probably varies from person to person.
Since I'm a novice who hasn't watched love reality shows until now.
I had various prejudices going in, but.
It seems worth selling as 'real'.
There's less rigging than I imagined.
And it's a composition that shows each individual's humanity more than expected."
'To begin with, Yume (father) said he didn't like it from the point of showing humanity as it is. I think I understand a bit why he said that.'
"What are you suddenly thinking about?
Isn't it better if there's less rigging?"
"From the viewer's perspective, that might be true, but lies are also the greatest means to protect oneself."
'Just like Ai (mother) did.'
"Well, it's probably unnecessary worry..."