With Mama’s jacket draped over Aqua’s sleeping form beginning to slip off, Ruby was tempted to steal the coat for herself and bask in the remnant motherly aura Mama had left in it. Then Ruby realized she was backsliding to her old otaku habits in an unconstructive way. Shaking her head, she pulled the jacket up so Aqua would still be fully covered and allowed to nap in peace. Ruby even gently slid her own folded sweater underneath his skull as an extra pillow layer. Aqua only snored a little before his soft breathing returned to normal. Ruby returned to the desk to resume her work.

  A part of Ruby was still peeved at Director Gotanda for not getting them a better trailer for this week’s filming. Theirs was relatively cramped, and Cobalt had donated the extra pillows and blankets Mama had smooched off some of the production assistants to Katayose and Murakami. A hotel would have probably been a better place for the Hoshino family to stay if Cobalt and Ruby were bumming it with Aqua and Mama. Still, Cobalt got to pretend they were camping in the trailer as a replacement for the trip Mama had to cancel to make time for this film, and Ruby got to cuddle more with Mama while they slept, so it wasn’t a total disaster.

  Production issues had been plaguing this sci-fi flick ever since filming started. This hiccup with the missing effects people wasn’t the first, but it wasn’t all bad. Now, while Mama was getting into costume in another trailer, Cobalt was stalking Director Gotanda to learn more how to be a good director, and Aqua was catching up on sleep, Ruby was on her family’s designated Elemental Orel laptop and editing another one of Cobalt’s scripts.

  This, among other things, had been Aqua’s job at the beginning. Shin Hoshigami couldn’t talk over video calls or online chats all the time. In Shin’s absence, Aqua took the initiative to teach Cobalt what he independently learned from other online tutorials, revised the scripts, helped with the physical step-by-step animation, and edited the early videos. However, Cobalt had wanted to take the reins before too long, needing Ruby to all but kick Aqua out of their work space at the house whenever Mister Mature-Adult-Before-He-Was-Reincarnated got too big for his britches and practically hijacked all creative control from Cobie.

  Ruby could understand Aqua’s true intentions. He had his own merits in editing and filmmaking from his acting gigs and years of learning under Director Gotanda. Aqua had plenty of ideas on how to objectively improve things like camera angles or the pacing of dialogue. He only wanted Cobalt’s works to be the best they could possibly be.

  Even when Aqua learned to temper his control and let Cobalt make the videos how he wanted to, he became more and more swamped with school and acting, and not able to give as much support as before. For some reason, Aqua wanted to become both a medical doctor and a talented thespian when he grew up. Maybe he was a doctor in his last life – no, he had to have been one. His bedside manner and other little tics when applying first aid to Cobalt was a lot like another kind doctor Ruby had once known. Aqua’s passion for acting must be from his new genes inherited from Mama getting inspired by his past life’s idol otaku habits. He definitely had the work ethic and commitment to achieve both dreams, but there wasn’t enough time in the day to also devote more into Elemental Orel and be more patient with Cobie.

  Since Ruby had comparatively a lot more free time than her brothers, she steadily became Cobalt’s right-hand in his channel. She’d gone through much of the tutorials Aqua had reviewed, and had sat in on some of Shin’s lessons for Cobalt. When resting her sore muscles or strained throat after another dancing or singing lesson, she read through Cobalt’s typed up scripts, listened to him pitch a new idea he had jotted down in one of his many notebooks, and helped give him more direction when recording his vocal lines. To be frank, the humor with the wordplay or slapstick didn’t always bring out a chuckle in Ruby, and some of his plots were clearly just juvenile exaggerations of the daily misadventures everyone in the Hoshino family had grown accustomed to. Regardless, she was proud to help him, watching all of Cobalt’s hard work in carefully crafting these amateur videos and seeing the comments and views climb higher over time. People did appreciate what he was putting out – even rising actresses like Yura Katayose!

  Ruby considered her contributions as basically getting early training in running her own idol YouTube channel once she debuted, too. Mama’s stories of online harassment, the Saitous’ advice on building a following, and Shin’s share of tips could only go so far until she needed to see it and live it for herself. Aqua still occasionally mocked Ruby for the flame wars she had fanned on her secret social media accounts back when they were still babies. Real-life bullies still needed a little knocking around, but while running Elemental Orel with Cobalt, she learned a lot more on when to stand her ground and when to ignore the unhelpful trolls.

  Someone knocked on the door to their trailer, loud enough to stir Aqua awake. Assuming it was Cobie, Ruby hopped up to open it.

  She stopped when Aqua reached out a hand to grab her wrist. Awake, he leaned up toward the window, pushing away the curtain to look outside.

  Ruby rolled her eyes. There hadn’t been an incident like the stalker assault in forever, and they all still practiced safety measures whether at home or out of town like, yet Aqua was still weird about people knocking on their front door. There was a window on the trailer door itself, too. She was going to look past the blinds and through the tinted window anyway without his help.

  Because Aqua didn’t say anything, Ruby freed her arm and did just that.

  She frowned in confusion at what she saw. This must be what stunned Aqua into a silent stupor.

  Cobalt had makeup on his face that replaced his scar with the alien-infected skin texture resembling what Mama and other actors had worn on a previous day of filming. The contacts on his eyes also matched up.

  She glanced between Aqua on the couch and Cobalt through the window, judging if she had them mixed up. Aqua was the one who was supposed to be in costume and makeup, after all. Was Cobalt trying to punk her by pretending to be Aqua again? Some of Cobalt’s friends made him do that once. Everyone had gaslit their teacher so much that day. Mama had needed to be called into the school to confirm Aqua had a legitimate excused absence for an acting role and that Cobalt was the one attending classes. Surely Cobalt understood he shouldn’t be pulling a prank like this at Aqua’s and Mama’s workplace? Especially with the production complications this movie’s already been having?

  “I’m the real Aqua,” said Ruby’s brother who was on the couch, now getting to his feet and marching toward the door, “and that’s Cobalt. I don’t know why he looks like that.”

  “If you’re lying and you’re really Cobie–” Then she was going to need to rerun her previous “lessons” she had taught Cobalt’s “friends” to really get the message across. They were the only ones who could have put Cobalt up to this.

  He didn’t let Ruby finish her thought aloud as he swung open the door.

  “Hi Aqua! Hi Ruby! I look like a movie star!”

  Yup, that was definitely Cobalt dressed up in what was supposed to be Aqua’s immersive on-camera getup. Ruby mentally put those re-education plans on hold. A staring contest proceeded between a frowning Aqua and a smiling Cobalt.

  Hearing heated voices arguing, Ruby pushed herself up by her toes to look over her brothers’ heads. In the distance, Director Gotanda was arguing with someone again, both of them walking in the direction of the triplets. He wasn’t talking with one of the fancy producers this time, though. It was against one of the makeup crew members Ruby recognized. Something Tachibana.

  Tachibana stopped short, staring in shock as he laid his eyes on Cobie and Aqua.

  “Bloody hell,” he said under his breath. “The kid really does have an identical twin?”

  “Identical triplet,” Cobalt corrected.

  “Fuck me sideways, man. I didn’t know.” Old instincts arose in Ruby to punish the man for swearing crudely within earshot of Cobie, but she held herself back. They were twelve now. Classmates at school were saying worse things around Cobalt nowadays.

  “So you were supposed to be pasting paint on Aqua instead,” Cobalt said. Realizing what had happened, Ruby barely held in her laughter. Seeing Aqua’s unhappy look fall further down made it more difficult. “I was wondering why you kept calling me Hoshino. Everyone else on set just uses our first names.”

  “I just – I didn’t know!”

  Aqua eyed the Director. “Cobie was supposed to be hovering around you. How did you let this happen?”

  “He stepped away to use the bathroom,” Gotanda said, moving his hands in front of himself as if they would deflect the scrutiny he was put under. It didn’t actually work, but Aqua did redirect his gaze to Cobalt. Ruby wished she had some popcorn.

  “Why did you go along with Tachibana?” Aqua asked their brother.

  “He makes some cool art pieces, and I wanted to learn more about how he makes you, Mom, and everyone else so slimy, flaky, and shiny! The gelatin I used for my alien models don’t have the same effect–”

  “Whatever,” Gotanda interjected, gesturing to his apprentice. “Just get Aqua in makeup–”

  “We can’t, man,” Tachibana said, still staring at Cobalt. “We used up the last of the gunk on the first kid. Umm, it’s supposed to be Orel, was it?”

  “That’s me!” Cobalt confirmed, prompting Ruby to resist the urge to emphasize using his real name. They weren’t talking about Elemental Orel. They were talking about Aqua’s film and makeup guy’s incompetence. Cobalt liked to take the lessons in marketing and brand recognition taught by Shin and grandpa Ichigo too far sometimes.

  “The effects crew was supposed to bring a resupply from the old office for storage on-site here,” Tachibana elaborated. “We only had enough for one more pass.”

  Gotanda hid his despair in a deadpan. “You’re joking.”

  “Does it look like I’m taking the piss out of ya, brother? Hell, I told the boss man producer to get the effects crew in line. And it’s not my fault nobody told me the only child actor on set had a clone of him walking around.”

  Cobie chuckled at being called a clone, no doubt reminded of an early episode of Elemental Orel about cloning to justify using multiple figures of the same model. Aqua was in no merry mood, looking at Tachibana with a similar look of displeasure as the Director. “You’ve been on set before,” Aqua said flatly, “ and have spoken to both of us.”

  “I’ve never seen the two of you at the same time! I don’t watch you do the acting on the stage when I’ve got a thousand other jobs to get done when the bigshot effects boys aren’t here. I thought you were just getting in-and-out of character!”

  “Wow,” Ruby let escape from her lips. She sure knew who to not consult for cosmetic expertise when she became an idol. “You guys in Shadow World Industries are really unprofessional and unobservant, huh?”

  Sure, her insulting him and his people wasn’t currying any favor for herself either, but Tachibana took it in stride. His anger wasn’t directed at her, just at the general state of affairs. “Bad-mouth us all you want, little lady. I can’t help it when my mates get into a traffic jam and I’m left with only a skeleton crew to patch something together out of gum and rubbish!”

  As he and Gotanda got into another spat, and as Aqua started lecturing Cobalt for not making a bigger fuss about letting himself get strung along by Tachibana, Ruby spotted Mama in the distance. She was fully dressed in her custom half-mutated alien/human hybrid costume. The fake metal protruding out of her head in a curved line around her shoulder and toward her back did look a little creepy, but since Mama wasn’t in-character yet, she had the same tells as Cobie betraying their true self: the mesmerizing smile and hypnotic eyes.

  Maintaining eye contact with Mama, Ruby gestured at Aqua and Cobie. Mama blinked and quickly nodded in acknowledgement of what was a clear case of mistaken identity. Silently, Mama snuck up behind the defensive Tachibana.

  “Hey, Makeup-kun,” she whispered conspiratorially.

  Mid-sentence in a retort against the Director, Tachibana instinctively turned around to face Mama. “Miss Ai, for the last time…”

  For all of Tachibana’s stubborn assertiveness and brusque attitude, he wasn’t spared from the entrancing spell that was Ai Hoshino. Her innate beauty shone beyond her sci-fi, borderline horror costume. The alien visuals might enhance the image if Tachibana was into that sort of thing. Simply being this close to Mama’s radiance did the trick to make all the hostility directed at Director Gotanda to go away.

  “How about you take a deep breath and let those stressful tensions ease out of you?” Mama suggested. “Be more like Cobie! Mistakes happen, and you can see he’s not panicking and lashing out, taking out his anger in such an unseemly manner.”

  “Hi mom!” came the obligatory greeting from Cobalt. “Mister Tachibana hasn’t really done anything bad. Just a few swear words, and mixing up me and–”

  “Yes, yes!” Tachibana said in a hurried tone, the want to appease the idol before him outweighing everything else.

  Ruby still needed more practice in that. Ever since that day Cobalt was tricked into jumping off a tree, she had taken to physical threats to keep the bullies in line. Thanks to her dance lessons and other exercises devoted to her future idol career over the years, Ruby was always as strong if not stronger than many of the boys who tried to exploit Cobie’s kindness against him. The gossiping, manipulative girls with impure intentions toward Cobalt were also hardly a struggle to make fall in line. It was always easier to go the violent route than trying to play a peaceful diplomat with dumb kids who she hardly thought were worthy of earning the respect of. All of the Hoshinos were taught basic self-defense techniques, as well, so Ruby rarely felt she was ever in danger of being counter-intimidated or seriously hurt.

  Cobalt was actually pretty strong and a decent brawler himself, something absolutely no one had expected…

  Things were changing as Ruby and her brothers were finally going through puberty. Boys would be getting bigger, girls would be getting prettier, and everyone would start to get more self-conscious about all that kind of stuff. Ruby already knew she and Aqua were going to have a lot of labor ahead of them in ensuring precious Cobalt wasn’t taken advantage of for his own handsome mug and easygoing personality. He was one of Ai the Idol’s children, after all.

  But Ruby was also the daughter of Ai. Ruby inherited her beauty, doing her best to flaunt that elegance and allure in school performances and musical contests she participated in, However, Ruby admittedly hasn’t done much to cultivate a loyal fanbase in her audiences. The non-bully classmates and the strangers in public real-world forums gave their compliments, sure, but it was a far cry from something like Tachibana’s reaction to Mama’s charisma. If Ruby wanted to be like Ai the Idol, let alone surpass her, she needed fans showering her in worshiping deference pulled by Ruby’s own magnetism, not just compulsory reactions to a pretty face or disgruntled respect from subjugated bullies.

  As she got older, Ruby needed to learn better how to use her beauty and presence to make people love her. Mama hasn’t performed a concert in a long time, yet Ai the Idol still came second-nature to her. While Ruby has put in the work for other necessary facets of modern idols, she also needed to learn how to shine like her mom, to make men like Tachibana and beyond cow and grovel… and to inspire hope and passion in others needing the boost in their lives, like what Ai had originally done for Sarina all that time ago.

  Ruby stepped back and watched Mama and Tachibana closely. Just as Yura Katayose carefully observed Mama at work, Ruby did the same. The only difference was that Ruby had the benefit of living with Ai the Idol and being eternally loved by her.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “My apologies, Miss Ai,” Tachibana continued. “I lost myself there.” Director Gotanda’s unimpressed snort was ignored.

  Mama hummed in contemplation before snapping her fingers. “I think you should call up your manager and see if they have any more updates. Aqua has been working his hardest as any of us on-set in getting our scenes done, with the rest of my babies cheering him and me on. Don’t let the pressure of others’ mistakes delaying the film spill over to them.”

  “Right-o. I’ll get right on that.”

  Tachibana was only able to pop open the contact list on his phone before Gotanda stopped him. “Don’t bother. Last I checked with our producers fifteen minutes ago, the effects crew are still incapacitated. We won’t be getting any more resupplies on the special makeup anytime soon.”

  Ruby watched Tachibana wordlessly mouth another curse. He must feel Mama’s gaze still peering into him. “Well,” he said in an unsure tone, “I can… Hmm. Listen, if you give me five – no, three-and-a-half to four hours, then I can cobble something up with the crew I do have after a quick grocery run.”

  Mama pouted. “If we have to hold off on filming Aqua’s scenes for that long, then we’ll have to cancel roasting marshmallows tonight. We promised Cobie we’d do something camping-related, but my babies need their sleep if they’re going to be acing their exam when we get back home.”

  Aqua was about to object, probably with a study plan in mind that Cobalt would accept in a heartbeat but would be hell for Ruby. Ruby also still wanted to see how Mama spun this unfortunate situation into something she was satisfied with. Since Mama’s jacket was still draped over him, Ruby stepped behind him to bring up the sleeves and wrap them around his head. His voice was muffled, and while he tried to shove Ruby away, Tachibana was already moving on to the next thing.

  “Miss Ai,” he said, “I read the script and saw the docket on what Director Gotanda wants to film with the time we have left. Aqua’s character needs to be in the full getup or the footage won’t work. The edits in post will be worse if we put him on-camera with just his regular face.”

  Tachibana was less flustered and spoke more practically at this point. Keeping Aqua restrained, with everyone else focused purely on Mama, Ruby also eyed her mother closely, waiting in anticipation on how she would use her charm to overcome this obstacle.

  However, Ruby misread where Director Gotanda stood. She should have known better, the filmmaker having developed a rudimentary “immunity” to Ai that allowed him to keep his cool around her. “Then we don’t put Aqua on-camera,” he declared. “We put Cobalt on-camera.”

  Heads turned to Cobie, who waved at the sudden attention. Even Aqua stilled himself before moving to face him, though his eyes were still covered by Mama’s jacket.

  Ruby glanced back at the Director. He was in what Ruby liked to call his “visionary vibe”, hit by a fierce inspiration and a matching determination to see his vision through. Cobalt sometimes exuded the same air when he dropped everything to scribble down notes for an Elemental Orel video. “Wait,” Ruby said, trying to work out the Director’s thought process, “you want Cobalt to stand in for Aqua? So Aqua just has to dub his voice over later?”

  Gotanda shook his head. “No, the most important scenes with the Sarcastic Child on-camera require emotions intently expressed on his face and in his body language. Dubbing is no debilitating issue if the audio doesn’t work right, but Cobalt in full costume will have to genuinely act with his stage partners.”

  As Aqua finally freed himself from Ruby’s hold, he glared at the Director with askance. “You can’t be serious. Cobalt can’t – ”

  The Director faced Ai, her initial impressions on Gotanda’s offer completely unreadable. “I think my history working with the Hoshino family should allow us to skip a formal contract for Cobalt to work in these scenes. Wouldn’t it, Ai?”

  It only took a few seconds for Ai the Idol to retake shape and snap back. “You know what? I’m game so long as Cobie is.”

  “Sure!” Cobalt obliged immediately. “Acting looks and sounds fun!”

  Aqua was still unhappy. “The only acting Cobalt’s done is voice acting for his videos on YouTube.”

  Ruby reacted as she usually did when Aqua spoke so matter-of-factly on a topic where there was more gray to his black-and-white perspective: with a screeching indignation. Cobalt on the other hand spoke with calm rationality at Aqua’s words.

  “Voice acting’s still acting!” brother and sister shouted together. Aqua already had a more in-depth explanation ready for them.

  “But Cobalt, you have no experience in live-action acting. You always instinctively look at the camera when someone records you. We have to remind you not to do that multiple times when we film those behind-the-scenes videos and you look away from the clay figure you’re molding in your hands.”

  Damn, Aqua wasn’t wrong about Cobalt screwing up some of their clay models during BTS recordings because his gaze kept drifting away to the camera while doing work with his hands.

  “I promise I won’t do that if I have to act as you for you in this movie, Aqua!” Cobalt reassured.

  Now in the mood to get one up over Aqua for being so negative about Cobalt’s ability as an actor, no matter how right Aqua might be, Ruby pettily added, “Maybe you’re just a bad director who can’t get the performance you want out of Cobie, Aqua.“

  Mama nodded her head, some of her alien attachments moving with the motion. “I bet Director Gotanda can direct Cobie just fine, right?”

  Gotanda leaned down and placed his hands on Cobalt’s shoulders. It was a common method of capturing Cobalt’s total attention, who’d be compelled to look nowhere else except for the eyes directly opposite his.

  “You’ve got your notes, don’t you, Cobalt?” the Director asked. “All the summaries and observations down to the smallest details about the things you see in your life.”

  “Yup!” He patted the compact book sitting in his back pocket, a mechanical pencil slotted through the rings of the book spine. “This notebook is my newest one that Ruby bought for me! I’ve been writing down all the interesting acting and movie-making things I’ve noticed since Aqua started filming for Signal Lost.”

  “And you love your big bro Aqua?”

  “Yup!”

  “You know him, and understand him.”

  “Uh, huh! One hundred – or, well, at least ninety percent. I want to leave a nice clean ten percent of doubt since there’s always the chance he has some deep dark secrets I don’t know about.”

  Ruby almost snorted. Cobalt still had some good instincts and intuition, his penchant for getting into troublesome messes notwithstanding. The greatest secret of them all held by both herself and Aqua was their status as reincarnated souls. They probably would never tell anyone about it.

  Well, in Ruby’s case, she was going to tell Sensei. She can help keep Aqua’s reincarnation a secret if he wanted.

  “Good enough,” Gotanda approved. “Then for the role of the Sarcastic Child, review the script for his relevant scenes and be Aqua. Some word choices and more mundane mannerisms aside, they’re practically the same person.”

  Cobalt paused. From where Ruby stood, she could see him lose his smile and actually look serious for once. “I did notice that, but for me… to be Aqua…”

  Gotanda appeared satisfied and began walking away. “I can give you a half hour to prep. Be at the alleyway set by then. Tachibana, tell me more about this improvised makeup idea you had…”

  The Director departed with Tachibana right on his heels, leaving the Hoshino family to stew on the new crisis of the week regarding Cobalt.

  At least, Aqua obviously thought it was a crisis. Ruby thought differently. Cobalt and Mama also looked committed to seeing this thing through, between Cobie flipping through his notebook and Mama smoothing out some of the loose or twisted strands of hair sticking against his face. Gotanda may have stolen the spotlight from Mama in resolving this identity mix-up and figuring out how to continue filming, but it was still a neat idea Ruby wouldn’t mind seeing play out: Cobalt rolling with pretending to be Aqua’s character.

  Aqua still wasn’t looking too happy about it. “I don’t –”

  A little half-friendly, half-hostile sibling rivalry never hurt anyone. Ruby had over a decade of history in such endeavors. She playfully punched Aqua with one hand while using her other one to filch Aqua’s script off him, full of handwritten notes in the margins. “You can sit back and watch Cobalt play a better you than you ever could.”

  Aqua only caught on to Ruby’s sleight of hand when she huddled next to Cobalt for them to compare the script and Cobie’s separate notebook. With an unpleasant scowl, Aqua said, “I really don’t –”

  “It’s alright, Aqua!” Cobalt insisted with a confident fist bump up in the air. “I’ll act like you and do my best! I won’t let you down!”

  Some people in the world, the tender and well-meaning sorts, found it hard to say no when bombarded by Cobie’s cuteness. He hadn’t caught on yet that it was a form of manipulation or a persuasion tactic he unconsciously used to get his way. The good people who actually knew Cobalt were much better at saying no. Aqua was no exception, but Mama came in for the rescue and put Aqua’s complaints to rest.

  Hugging Aqua from behind, Mama chuckled and ruffled his hair. “Have some more faith in your family, Aqua,” she said, “and in your directing mentor’s instincts. I know Cobie’s acting on his channel doesn’t have as many stakes involved as the paid jobs you take, but after twelve years of living together, I think Cobalt picked up a thing or two in understanding his family and channeling that into a memorable performance.”

  Aqua was Mama’s biggest fan, sharing the spot simultaneously with Ruby and Cobalt. His compliance came with only token resistance, no match against the full power of Ai the Idol – especially Ai Hoshino, their caring mother.

  That was an aspect of Mama which Ruby wouldn’t be able to replicate for a good long while, the motherly angle. Ruby had no plans of becoming a teen mom, but seeing Mama’s charm work its magic yet again, no matter how many times Ruby has seen it be done, was still an illuminating experience she would never take for granted.

  “Alright,” Aqua finally relented, looking to the floor. “I can give some advice –”

  “Hush now,” Ruby said, shooing Aqua away as she dragged Cobalt with her toward the set the Director had mentioned. “I’ve got Cobie’s back on this. You can go back to sleep.”

  He didn’t listen, attaching himself to Cobalt’s other side. Mama followed after them.

  Aqua might have tons of acting experience under his belt, but he won’t know what hit him when Cobalt shows him just how much he can shine in Aqua’s own territory.

  Yura couldn’t stop thinking about it.

  She took pride in the fame she has earned through her acting career thus far. Her name was getting more and more traction every day. Still, there were plenty of things in the industry she has yet to experience. Being bamboozled by a set of identical actor brothers in the real world rather than playing out such a scenario in a TV script hadn’t been one of them. And yet here she was, the switcheroo stubbornly at the forefront of her mind as she made her way back to her trailer after getting out of her costume and makeup.

  Cobalt had acted in Aqua’s place for the next scenes requiring the Sarcastic Child to be at the center of the cameras, and for a few bits where he was in the background. After everyone got over their initial surprise at childish Cobalt’s professional performance, things had moved along rather quickly. It hadn’t taken them many takes to get Director Gotanda satisfied with the footage. There hadn’t been any more technical hiccups that prevented the actors and crew members from competently doing their jobs. Cobalt had been allowed to step off the stage and clean up as the evening settled in while the adult actors did their final scenes of the night.

  Yura didn’t know why Director Gotanda’s little ruse with Cobalt was still bothering her. Realistically, it was a funny joke to the crew and a practical solution to Tachibana’s massive oversight. And it was a gambit that paid off. Cobalt gave a genuine rendition of Aqua’s character no one in a million years could accuse as bad or inconsistent.

  That must be it. Cobalt had originally felt so genuine with his real personality that the whiplash of him being so downtrodden and seethingly bitter as the Sarcastic Child was still rattling her. Yura has worked with a decent number of fellow actors and actresses who were complete opposites of characters they portrayed on the silver screen, but none had enraptured Yura as Cobalt had. Even Aqua’s acting didn’t make Yura so enthralled.

  But Ai… she was the closest thing Yura could compare. It made sense, them being mother and son. Displaying what most could only described as pure, genuine emotion in their role, yet those in-the-know like Yura were aware of the underlying truth that the performance was ultimately a lie – perhaps fueled by true feelings and past experiences, channeled in a controlled setting, but after seeing Cobalt and Ai embody sheer cheerfulness and positivity when not on-camera, Yura wasn’t sure anymore when the lie started or ended.

  Yura was worldly enough to know people were multi-faceted. They acted differently depending on present company and their current state of mind. Oversimplifying people down to an exclusive set of characteristics – especially people Yura has only worked with for a relatively short while regardless of the rapport she’s cultivated – would be too shortsighted and disrespectful of her.

  She had to keep spending time with them; watching Ai flip back-and-forth between overprotective mother and the mentally deteriorating Sharp Principal, observing Aqua reveal his soft spots for his family when not fully immersing himself in the role at hand, and studying how Cobalt seamlessly transformed between a ray of sunshine and the spirit of vengeance.

  Yura wanted to become the star of countless films, many of which she envisioned being viewed and talked about for decades to come, even long after she died. If she wanted to achieve that dream, then she needed to become the perfect actress of her generation who inspired those that will come after her. The Hoshino family was a wellspring of talent that can help her reach that dream. Yura caught a taste and couldn’t let go, not yet. Not even close.

  Turning the corner, Yura saw the Hoshinos just outside their trailer. It took her a moment to take in the scene. They sat on the leather cushions of a sofa likely taken from their trailer. The four of them were gathered around a portable fire pit. Smoke puffed into the black starry sky as the kids roasted marshmallows. Ai-senpai was already munching on her share of melted sweets melded between slabs of chocolate and crackers. Her talk about making up for the kids’ canceled camping trip finally came to fruition, huh? Maybe it was a reward for Cobalt doing an incredible job today.

  Yura pulled herself together, put a smile on her face, and approached the Hoshino family. Ai-senpai kindly let Yura take her couch cushion, Ai moving to share Aqua’s seat. They were all pretty tired after a long day, but falling into the same routines of indulging Cobie, stroking Ruby’s ego, and bantering with Aqua and Ai came naturally to Yura. She didn’t need to lie about a single thing. She only had to enhance and exaggerate her normal feelings and reactions just a sprinkle to get everyone in a tune she can dance to.

  It didn’t take long until Yura popped the question she’d been carrying ever since she sat down. “Do you think Aqua and Cobalt would be interested in playing a set of twins in another project I’m doing?”

  She got promising responses. Intrigue from Ai-senpai. Curiosity from Ruby. Surprise but not disapproval from Aqua, probably still fixated on the sudden reveal of his brother’s apparently secret acting skills. And, most importantly, eager excitement from Cobalt. Him and Ruby would be enough to convince Ai and therefore push Aqua to say yes, Yura was sure.

  “Game of Solidarity, right?”

  Yura physically jumped. Director Gotanda was right behind her, his hands casually in his pockets. “How’d you–”

  “I know the screenwriter. I did him a solid and edited the script.”

  Oh, then maybe Yura can try to leverage some of her strings to get Gotanda more involved in this gig. He was already good at directing Cobalt and Aqua, and Ai clearly trusted him to do right by her kids.

  “I’m sorry to disappoint, but Aqua and Cobalt would be a poor pair for the roles you’re thinking of.”

  Scratch that, Gotanda chose to become Yura’s enemy at this late hour. “You’re the one who vouched for Cobie’s acting in the first place,” she reminded him.

  “That’s how I also know he won’t be suited for Game of Solidarity.”

  A committed ally arose in Ruby. “Are you calling Cobie’s work tonight a fluke?!”

  “Not at all,” was Gotanda’s calm reply. “He did very good work as the Sarcastic Child. However, Game of Solidarity will have tighter restrictions than our filming conditions for Signal Lost. Stricter producers, a harsher director – nothing conducive to a working environment that will bring out the best in Cobalt. He’s too inexperienced and undisciplined.”

  Yura had a front[-row seat for another face she hadn’t expected to see on Cobalt: wide-eyes and lips flattened out, an expression that was usually the precursor to a burst of tears. There was no anger behind it like when he was the Sarcastic Child. His small voice gave it away, too. “So,” Cobalt said with dread, “I’m actually not a good actor?”

  Ruby immediately glomped him in a supportive hug. “Don’t listen to him, Cobie! He’s getting senile in his old age.”

  Director Gotanda certainly wasn’t that old to be suffering any senility, but it was still a hard enough jab to Gotanda’s self-worth that he choked and winced at Ruby’s words.

  “But he’s the Director,” Cobalt countered. “He’s the one who knows more about acting than the actors.”

  With that image set in Cobalt’s mind, Yura tried to put more subtle pressure on Ai. “I was just asking if Cobalt and Aqua would be interested in the roles. Of course they’d still need to audition. With Ai-senpai’s blessing, naturally.”

  She might’ve been a bit too sloppy, mentioning Ai a little too quickly as an afterthought. Yura caught a flash of narrowed eyes from her before Ai-senpai went through the motions of pretending to consider the idea, her gaze looking to the side as she pressed a finger over her chin. “Well, I’m not too picky, as long as it's Aqua and Cobalt who want to try it out! How about it, Aqua? Do you want to seize the opportunity to act side-by-side with Cobie?”

  “... I need to see the script,” Aqua said shortly.

  Every other Hoshino was in. Now Yura just had to nudge Cobalt a little further without coming off as too overbearing to Ai or –

  “I’ll tell you what,” Director Gotanda said, now recovered from his earlier falter. Yura barely suppressed the look of annoyance she sent him. She was at a disadvantage, the Hoshinos far more likely to listen to their favorite director than Yura. “Katayose, hold off on telling your agent about Aqua and Cobalt. I’ll give the boys my copy of the Game of Solidarity script, up-to-date with the latest edits. We can schedule time to put aside for a mock audition with you, Ai, and myself as the judging panel. You’ll either see what I mean when I say the role is unsuitable for Cobalt, or I’ll be proven wrong.”

  Yura looked forward to seeing him be proven wrong.