[ If he ever hears Ai claim to be low-maintenance ever again, it'll be too soon. What? It's been almost twenty years? Yeah, no, he still rests his case. He's not sure if this was a result of a wish not worded well enough... or just the limitations of the Holy Grail.
Regardless, he found himself here... now on an unbleached Earth as a human like a certain Grand Caster had done... well, there were a few notable details that differed the situation, notably that he was reborn here... and a few years before Ai was even born at that. Seriously, what the hell? Why is this so complicated!?
Well, he can at least be glad that his name is still Oberon, even after being reborn into a different world. He's not sure if that's the grail at work or just a happy coincidence, but it meant there wouldn't be too much confusion... even if he had to deal with the current impossibility that is finding Ai, let alone what state she's in.
Honestly, there was just way too much he didn't know... but even if B-Koma... whatever it was called, doesn't exist yet... it will eventually. So alas, Oberon was saddled with the first goal of... getting into the entertainment industry. The Japanese entertainment industry, specifically.
Well, it's a good thing he's good at working hard for long periods of time, all for the sake of leading up to one big goal.
He followed the Japanese idol sphere closely the whole while. He heard of B-Komachi practically the instant they had their debut, but as expected, there was no sign of Ai. She had mentioned that she was scouted later on, hadn't she? He really wasn't interested in them as a group, but because they would presumably have an eventual connection to Ai, he kept an eye on them anyway.
He was good at acting. He was once a Pretender, after all. That was his way into the entertainment sphere. Becoming a prodigious child actor was easy enough, building up his reputation and subtly manipulating others to get more opportunities... yes, while he was still a child, too. If anything it was easier because of that. Nobody expects this kind of thing from someone who, by all means, should still be learning the alphabet.
To reiterate... it was a lot of work to get where he is now, and boy did it suck! His fairy eyes may have been considerably dampened, but Oberon can see through human bullshit just as easily with or without, and the entertainment industry could get particularly ugly. Seriously, what made him want this in the first place... was Ai. What the hell is even the point of being reborn as a human if she's not there with him? She was the only thing that made the idea bearable! Appealing, even!
Still, he had moments of hope to push him forward. Ai's debut in B-Komachi finally arrived, and... well, at this point he had to face facts, she probably doesn't remember him. Things have followed what she told him of her life too well. Having the memories of yourself in your twenties would have to stir things up, but it hasn't. There was a chance, then, that those memories would only resurface upon something triggering it. Like meeting him, for example. He looks pretty much the same, after all... well, the same, barring being much younger. He's three whole years older than her, but that still made him a teenager at the time she had her debut.
So with all of that in mind... he had to keep his distance. Because if meeting him would cause her memories to surface, then they couldn't meet now... and for a very obvious reason: her children didn't exist yet.
Whoever she hooked up with... well, he doesn't like the idea of that, but it's for the greater good. Whoever she hooked up with would be hard to hook up with—and consequently, get knocked up by—if she meets and remembers the guy who she had a lot of sex with in her future twenties before it happens.
So he waited. Waited and heard of Ai's hiatus due to health concerns... and promptly let out a long, long groan.
He wants to be there with her. He wants to be with her, right now... a part of him considers if it would be fine now. If now that she's pregnant with her beloved children, it would be safe to find her. Sure, it would make the future different from what they know, but... he misses her.
...Not that it's possible. She didn't mention which hospital she went to while they were still together, it simply never came up. He knows it's out of the city, but that doesn't exactly narrow it down. Ai's wherabouts at that point were a tightly-kept secret that he would have a hard time finding.
So... more waiting. More acting. He's become something of a household name in the Japanese Entertainment sphere... and perhaps being foreign helped in grabbing attention as well.
Ai made her return to the spotlight at last. He watched her return interview and nearly spat out his own drink when she very nearly outed her own secret almost right away... but whatever, that's Ai for you. They can meet now, can't they...? It should be fine... right? ]
"Ah, you're here! We're so glad you decided to join us, Oberon-san!"
Please, the pleasure is all mine. Now, I believe I heard that an idol would be joining us...?
"Eh? How did you know?"
Oh, it's just a little something I heard on my way in. It's no problem, I've just never met one in-person before, so I got a little... interested? Yes, interested.
"Ah, I see! Well, it's as you say, she's..."
[ He exchanged pleasantries with the director as he usually does with others in this world. This is just a talk show, Ai's debut into taking on more acting roles and jobs having provided the perfect opportunity to secretly nudge some higher ups' attentions toward her. They requested her participation, she agreed, and now...
...He'll admit it's uncharacteristically impatient of him, but he just... can't help it. He blames it on her, really. Making him this needy for her. He swiftly and cleanly ends his conversation with the director and starts looking around to try and spot her... and yet having no luck. She must not be in the room yet... ]
[ The gods have a funny sense of humour, don't they?
Not that Ai Hoshino would know anything about that. Extraordinary as she is as a human she's still nothing more than that. If there's gods or anyone up there, they're definitely not paying any attention to her. Her luck, her misfortune and everything else that makes up her life is down to human hands and nothing more.
It's nice to imagine that someone might, though. That her wishes, selfish as they are, matter to anyone at all but herself. When she thinks about it too hard, it makes her chest ache in some odd mix of deja vu, a sort of longing nostalgia that has no direction or source. It surfaces at equally strange times, too, triggered by the most arbitrary things: a coat lined with fur at the neck in the window of a shop, the sight of moths crowding around a streetlamp at night. Cornflower blonde hair and pairings of red and blue in certain shades.
When she goes to Lalalie and meets that boy for the first time, it crests into something almost painful to endure - then wanes into curious disappointment. It isn't as though she's been looking for something but at the same time, she's nagged with the feeling that this still isn't it.
She goes again and makes her mistakes all the same, of course. It's the closest anyone like her will ever come to loving someone. When Aqua and Ruby are put into her arms for the first time, the ache crescendos, so lovely and all encompassing that she can hardly stand it and she thinks that maybe this was the thing she'd been looking for without even realising she'd been missing it.
(Maybe it's the Grail that has a sense of humour about these things. But of course, Ai wouldn't know anything about that.)
It's a day like any other when she kisses the twins goodbye and gets bundled into the car by Miyako. A spot on a talk show promoting her other projects - nothing special. There are other guests, of course, but celebrity encounters have long since lost their shine for her. It's a little surprising that she's appearing alongside a man - well, technically still a boy - but just as idols are girls well into their 20s, boys with pretty faces are men as soon as the industry can get away with calling them that. But from what she's heard of his reputation, he's tidy and neat in the same way B-Komachi is - no scandals, no romance mishaps - so maybe he's 'safe'.
As safe as anyone in this industry gets, anyway. ]
Good morning! [ She practically singsongs it as she pushes the door open, Miyako trailing behind her with the longsuffering expression of a woman accompanying her child to an extracurricular activity ] We didn't keep you waiting, did we?
[ He's in the middle of another conversation started against his will, where he smiles his usual smile and says whatever is best at the time. The similarities to what Ai had told him have never been lost on him, but it's not like their similarities were any surprise at this point. It was effective, and not unlike what he was already used to doing.
Yet despite being in the middle of a conversation... the instant that singsong voice of hers rings in his ears, his smile drops and his neck snaps to look in the direction of her voice faster than he's ever done before.
It's her. ]
...
"Um... sir, is everything alright?"
[ He's fixated. He can't look away. How long has it been since he got to lay his eyes on her in-person? He's seen her on TV, seen her through a screen, of course he has... but... ]
A-Ah... yeah...
[ It's not like he's alone. He can spot right away a good number of individuals in the room who found their eyes fixed on her as well... her natural charisma just as radiant as he remembers. Yet while most of them snap out of it, getting back to work or returning her greeting, he...
...he can't look away. It's like his brain stopped working and now he's just, staring slackjawed at her. ]
[ Ai doesn't even seem to notice - or if she does, she's polite enough to pretend otherwise. She chatters away to the staff, bright and gregarious, as she hands over her things to be stored, exchanges cheery words of recognition with a producer who's run into her once or twice before and introduces Miyako, who still looks a fair bit like she'd rather be elsewhere.
But it's Miyako who seems to notice him first. Maybe Ai's just being polite, or maybe the intensity of his gaze is something she's so used to by now it barely registers. But Miyako's eyes flit over to him and narrow in something between caution and annoyance. It's only then that Ai follows her gaze and looks at him properly for the first time.
It's not dramatic at all. No grand swell of emotions when their eyes meet. Something certainly tries - her heart surges, trembling and alive in a way that catches her by surprise, but with nothing to contextualize it, she has no idea what to make of the feeling. Without knowing why it's excitement and relief, the pace of her heart just feels like anxiety.
She doesn't look through him like a stranger, though. Somehow, it's worse than that. ]
So we're today's guests, huh? Heehee, it's pretty exciting getting to go on with a real actor.
[ She smiles, warm and polite, picture perfect and exactly the way an idol should greet a fan. It almost looks like the first smile she ever gave him - a surrender, a showing of the belly. She might do a better job of covering it here, but behind her eyes, there's still a trembling prey animal. ]
[ Oberon is... embarrassed to admit that his mind went fully blank. It must've been a creepy look, but for once, he wasn't aware of what his expression was like... so he's not sure. Creepy is most-likely, though.
He wishes he hadn't, though. Of all times to need his mind working, this is almost certainly one of them. ]
...Yeah, nice to meet—
[ Nice to... meet you...
His hand comes up in a practiced motion, like muscle memory, to take her hand... only to stop short.
Nice to meet you.
It's not like he hadn't considered the possibility. The possibility that her memories wouldn't return. That she would look at him... like...
N i c e t o m e e t y o u
He feels his face go pale. He can only hope his already-pale complexion hides it well enough that it goes unnoticed. ]
...Nice to meet you too, Ai-san.
[ He smiles. Smiles as if blood hasn't drained from his face as his frozen hand finds movement again and shakes hers. She's just the way he remembers her, he can see past her act just as well as he could before, and yet... ]
You'll have to forgive me, things have been rather hectic, you know? I didn't mean to stare. Please, just call me Oberon.
[ When he takes her hand, she's surprised twofold - firstly that it's a handshake at all... but he's from outside of Japan, right? America, or England or something like that? So it makes sense. The real surprise is how chilly his fingers are when they wrap around hers - maybe she's just a little overheated from the car ride here, but it catches her off guard all the same.
She looks at him with open curiosity - or maybe that she's observing some manner of curiosity, an interesting interruption to the routine she'd expected. But then just as quick, her expression shifts back into a smile again.
It's not fake. For Ai of B-Komachi, it's all perfectly natural.
But Hoshino Ai's smile isn't anywhere to be seen. ]
If it helps, I didn't even notice. Occupational hazard, you know? [ Even her cheeky smile isn't quite right. ] That's a cool name, though! It's from a play, isn't it?
[ His laugh, meanwhile, is as fake as can be. He's better than this, he's better at making it seem natural... and to others, it does seem natural.
But it's not. It's the most forced he's felt in a long time. It's always been effortless before, but this time... as he stands here with Ai's hand in his, her hand in his after all this time...
He can't help but be shaken to his very core. A sensation that makes him want to throw up, right then and there. ]
Mmhm, A Midsummer Night's Dream. You've heard of it, then?
Sort of. When I was at my acting classes, it was one of the plays they had us read.
[ Which is strange, when she thinks about it - Lalalie was a Japanese theater company. But they'd also been a dirt broke one at the time, too. Maybe they were just scraping the bottom of the barrel for whatever they could afford the rights to.
She'd only really skimmed it at the time, but the names had stuck in her head. For whatever reason. ]
I guess your parents knew you were gonna be an actor, huh?
[ From behind her, Miyako clears her throat. Their hands are still linked, after all - Ai only realizes a moment too late that they've been holding on for too long. It doesn't feel at all uncomfotable for her hand to be in his, but she slips it free anyway. ]
I suppose so! I guess you could say it was my destiny.
[ Said with a playful wink before he lets go of her hand as well, quickly hiding it in his pocket to hide how it's trembling.
He hates this. He hates every second of this. She's right there... she's right there... and yet he says nothing. Not like there's much he can say that doesn't sound... well, completely insane. She doesn't remember him. The Ai he knows and loves is hidden behind that thick mask of lies that she had when they first met...
Is that it, then? The woman who greedily wished for everything... for him, for her children, for her own happiness... just going to forget him, just like that? Then what even is the point? Start over...!?
...Is it his fault? Is this his curse finally catching up to him? Since becoming human, his words have become worthy of the truth... but they weren't back then. Is this the result? Was their love... just a dream? Thoughtlessly cast aside as but a single night's revelry?
Is this his punishment, then? For daring to grasp what can never be his? ]
Don't worry, it'll be easy. Just be yourself! If nothing else, I can promise to watch out for you! It's the least I can do for another actor, right?
[ ...Except it doesn't matter, does it?
That's right, it doesn't matter anymore... it never has. Whether Ai remembered him or not was only ever secondary. He promised to fulfill her wish, didn't he?
Someone is after her life. Someone is going to kill Hoshino Ai... and he can't allow that.
He has a near-endless number of reasons to be pissed... hell, he probably is under that calm expression, but that's fine. It is what it is.
[ It seems like it happens in a blink. One moment she's making all the same mistakes again and the next, some thread has been yanked so violently that the entire tapestry it makes up has come entirely unravelled. She doesn't learn in time not to open the door or to engage the chain lock, but against all odds, for the first time in her life, in any life -
Someone saves her. And perhaps she shouldn't be surprised in the least. Saving her is all he's ever done, after all.
It takes some time for her heart to find its place in her chest again. Foreign feelings saturate her body in the days after the attack and she's too numb from shock and confusion in the immediate aftermath. They're questioned by the police, she dutifully gives them all the information she has and when she and Oberon part ways once again it takes all her self control not to go chasing after him. She doesn't even know why. Or rather, she hadn't, not at the time.
Now, though...
What a bizarre route for the Grail to have taken in granting her wish. Undeniably, it's done exactly as she asked - and that's what frightens her the most. She'd asked for a long, happy life for all the people she loves and for herself too and that's exactly what she's been given. But she hadn't phrased things precisely enough to know for sure if it means them all having that happiness together.
She wants to believe it must. Why else would he have been here just in time to save her? But the Oberon she knows, the one who knows her in turn - surely he would never have just let her walk away. Not if he remembered. Maybe this is the extent of the miracle she's been granted - to be saved and nothing more than that. Maybe anyone else would be happy with that much.
But Ai's too greedy for her own good. She always has been. And when his address falls into her lap entirely by chance - police reports are just a little too well informed, it seems - she can't bring herself not to test her luck a little further. She makes up a lie to Miyako and the President that she's sure neither of them believe but they dutifully swallow anyway and she sets out, clueless and stubborn, to try and put her doubts to rest, one way or the other.
Just as her luck would have it, the heavens open as she makes her way over. Enough so that she's soaked to the skin and shuddering in the cold by the time she gets to his apartment building (just close enough to her own that she has to wonder). With a trembling hand, she skims the intercom buttons until she finds the right one and before she can let herself hesitate, she pushes it. And even with her hair plastered to her face and her shudders rattling her tiny frame, she manages a winning smile into the camera. ]
Sorry to barge in! Mind letting me up before I freeze?
[ He can still feel the pain in his bandaged hand from two sources. One, an ache in his wrist from when he punched Ai's would-be killer in the jaw as hard as he could... and then another from when he got into a proper fight with the guy. He won, of course. He may not be a Servant, but he still knows how to fight better than some loser with a knife.
Unfortunately, though, he got unlucky and ended up having to catch the knife with his bare hand... which let him wrench the thing out of the killer's grasp, but in exchange for a nasty slash on his palm. His hand is still thoroughly wrapped up in a bandage after some doctors took a look at him... and it still hurts like hell, honestly.
Needless to say, Ai's dome concert was cancelled... probably not forever, but still, it's hardly the most important thing on Oberon's mind.
He did it. Twenty-four years... all for the sake of that one moment. What happens from here is a mystery... honestly it's entirely possible that she could just get into another mess and end up dead anyway. It's not like it'd surprise him if the world decided to spit in his face like that.
But he did it. He... saved her.
The question of what he does from here... remains unfortunately unanswered, though. Ever since then, he's been... listless, for the lack of a better word. Just laying around in his apartment, trying to ignore the pulsing pain in his hand.
Then, unexpectedly, he hears the buzzer... and her voice.
His reaction is... embarrassingly delayed, but the fact remains that he nearly falls off his couch in scrambling towards the answering machine. ]
Y-You...
[ There she is... right there on camera... and looking absolutely freezing what the hell? ]
W-What the hell are you doing out in the...!
[ Ugh... what the hell, how did she even get his address? Sure he was nearby, but it can't have been that easy... and why is she here? What, to thank him...?
He briefly considers the possibility... the possibility that she'd remember him, but surely if she had, she wouldn't have just let him walk away... right? ]
U-Ugh... come in, then...
[ What kind of idol shows up at a guy's home with no warning asking to be let inside...? Is she asking for a scandal?? In any case, the buzzer beeps, signaling that she's being let inside. ]
[ What sort of fool does it make her that it's so lovely to be scolded like that? It's nostalgic in exactly the way that's plagued her for all her life, the ache of missing something that hasn't even happened yet for her to miss it. But now her head is swimming with memories and the timber and tone of his voice feels almost as familiar as her own. Even hearing him irritated with her feels like a gift.
So she makes her way up. She tries not to think too much about what she might or might not say when she's in there or how much trouble she might or might not get into because of it. All that really matters is that she wants to be there full stop.
She doesn't bother knocking when she reaches his door - he's buzzed her in and he's expecting her, so she just gives a quick courtesy rap of her knuckles before pushing the door open and stepping inside, her smile sheepish. ]
Heehee. Can you believe my luck that I didn't bring an umbrella? I'll probably drip everywhere, sorry...
[ With a clock, she shuts the door behind her. ]
Um... is it okay to ask how you're doing after all that?
[ The instant she's inside, she'll find a towel tossed unceremoniously at her face so she can start drying up and not catch a deathly cold just a few days after narrowly avoiding being stabbed. ]
I'd say it's more surprising that I have Ai herself arriving at my door soaked from the rain... you know there are less suggestive ways to thank someone, right?
[ Huh, he's acting a whole lot differently compared to that talk show way back when... or in general whenever he's on a screen. Though to Ai, it's much more familiar, isn't it?
To answer her question, he raises his bandaged hand so she can see it. ]
About as well as I can be. Better than being stabbed, at least.
[ With a great deal of false cheer she doesn't quite feel: ] Probably! I just couldn't come up with any of them on the spot.
[ She gets to towelling her hair dry as she makes her way further inside, trying not to make her inspection of the place too obvious. It's tidier than she expected... so even he can keep things from turning into a garbage heap when he has to, huh.
With her hair as dry as it's going to get, she lets the towel drape around her neck - her clothes are beyond help at his point - and tries to put her clueless smile back on but the instant she sees his still bandaged hand, her face falls. ]
Ah...
[ It'd all been such a blur that she'd hardly taken it in but that was right. He'd gotten hurt trying to save her, hadn't he? She just... hadn't realised it was quite this bad.
She doesn't even bother trying to control her expression. She just steps forward and tentatively, hesitantly, lifts her hands to take his. Just so she can get a closer look. ]
Mm. I guess it's definitely the preferable option. [ Her voice is flat. ] ...I still don't like it.
[ Even after all this time, the idea of him getting hurt for her is just... ]
...Well, I suppose that's understandable, at least.
[ You know, since being almost murdered tends to leave a person fairly shaken.
...Honestly, he's not sure what to do in this situation. With Ai, who doesn't remember him, coming to him for the sake of thanking him for saving her life. Despite the fact that there are certainly better way sto go about that with a man who is, by all means, a stranger to her.
Still, being lost in thought means being caught off-guard Ai steps forward... and allowing her to take his bandaged hand in hers.
He wishes he wasn't immediately blushing. ]
...You don't have to like it, but... I don't regret it, if that makes you feel any better.
[ ...Despite that, though, he can't exactly ignore that she's still completely soaked. Sure, she dried her hair, but wearing wet clothes is still plenty likely to get you sick. ]
...Gah, fine, whatever! Scandals be damned, you're too damn wet! How long were you out in the rain anyway!?
[ He raises his unhurt hand and places it roughly on the top of her head, frowning down at her. It's been raining for a while, so if she's been out like this for too long, just throwing a towel at her and bundling her up isn't gonna do much. ]
Warm shower, now. I didn't save your life just for you to catch a goddamn cold, so unless you're leaving, you better warm the hell up.
[ At his touch, she starts a little - not quite a flinch, but her surprise shows all over her face when she perks up at him. Really, her face in general is suddenly a little more open and honest than it usually is. Or rather, than it has been for the last twenty years or so. Her gaze, too, is a little searching but her eyes drop meekly from his face seemingly before she can settle on whether she's found what she's looking for or not. ]
It's probably a little irresponsible. But so was coming over here to begin with, huh?
[ The grin she flashes him is a little forced... and then it eases back into that tentative, uncertain little smile. ]
Um... maybe it's a little much to ask when I showed up out of nowhere like this but I don't... W-well, I'll have to borrow some clothes. If that's okay.
[ A flat refusal is as good an excuse as any to flee back home after all. ]
[ His eyebrow twitches, and his cheeks... flush further. Shit. ]
...Fine, no complaining about the size, though.
[ Did he seriously just say that? Actually, what the hell is she thinking asking that!? All of his clothes are bound to dwarf her in size, so her wearing his clothes...
The reasonable thing to do would be to say no, or provide an alternative... but instead he said sure!?
...God he must miss her way more than he thought, and that's saying something. ]
That's the first realization on Oberon's mind as light streams in through the window. It's manageable, but it feels like he just ran a goddamn marathon... and maybe that analogy isn't too off. He's had to keep fit for the sake of his acting roles, but this was something else.
...Wait, hold on, where's— ]
...!
[ At some point during the night after he passed out, he must've slipped out of her to unconsciously lay on his back. Presumably, he still held onto her, but the worst possible scenario suddenly flits into his head.
Waking up... and her being gone.
His eyes shoot wide open, and his head snaps to look at his side. On one side there's nothing, nobody there, just his empty arm and his heart starts to sink...
...and then he looks to the other side, and— ]
Ah...
[ ...There she is. There she is. Resting on his arm like a pillow, dishiveled as one should expect after everything they just did... there she is. ]
[ Perhaps unsurprisingly, she's not been sleeping well the last few days. With all her fears, her anger and anxiety stirred up and made alive, it's been hard to close her eyes and relax enough to get any proper rest. But here, in Oberon's arms and his bed, all the tension has at last drained from her body. Sweetly exhausted and safe, she sleeps deep and dreamlessly.
She's still fast asleep when he stirs, her breath deep and slow and even. But after a moment she stirs as well - maybe it's the motion of him shifting to look at her or it's the intensity of his gaze - and her eyes flutter open. For a moment, she just blinks at him, slow and sleepy... but then a smile unfurls onto her face like a blossom popping open under the sun. ]
[ All of his tension just... vanishes. Melts away under her warm, warm gaze. She's all disheveled, ruined, his bite marks got darker overnight and are even clearer as a result... but god is she beautiful. ]
H-Hah...
[ His intense eyes soften... and he reaches over to pull her close again. ]
Of course I did. I said I would, didn't I? Jeez, when you say it like that, you make it sound like I never keep my promises.
[ It's playful, though, with no bite at all and when he pulls her close, Ai tucks herself against him, face in the crook of his neck and her arm tossed loosely around him in return. She absolutely isn't going to protest being held. ]
... I'll have to go home today. The Prez and Miyako-san know I was staying away for the night, but... I can at least stay with you for a little longer.
Hah...! A little late to be responsible now, isn't it...?
[ He's kidding, but that doesn't make him any less right, does it? He grins, lightly poking her side, close to where her abdomen is. What can he say? Teasing her is a good way to hide how pathetically relieved he was that she was still here when he woke up. ]
Pregnant at 16 and yet you still haven't learned anything... I pity your poor manager.
[ So he says, but he's still returning kisses to her as she speaks, peppering her with the affection he'd always wanted to freely give to her. ]
Hey, now you're making it sound like I can't be trusted at all. You meanie.
[ Pout pout, huff huff. Just look at how totally offended she is. ]
This was... extenuating circumstances! Or something like that. I wasn't exactly planning ahead so I had to improvise a bit. But it all worked out well, didn't it?
[ the bitemarks on her neck tell a very different story. and so will saitou when he sees them, probably. ]
Oh? I thought that was exactly what I was implying, you scandalous idol.
[ She's so cute when she's pouting and huffy... he pulls his hand back to lightly flick her forehead. ]
It all worked out... but just so you know, idols don't usually go sleeping with anyone who saves them, even if it does make for a nice reward. Especially with no-good guys like me. After all...
[ He leans in close again, kissing her neck and lower jaw. ]
This no-good man is going to take full advantage of you from now on...
[ She tries to keep up her huffy puffy tone but it takes all of a few seconds before she's giggling again, giving a lock of his hair a playful tug. ]
You really think I would've come wandering over here for just anybody who saved me? [ She lets his hair slip from her fingers so she can start stroking the back of his head instead. ] It's more like it's because you're such a no-good guy that I came over to say thank you in person.
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Regardless, he found himself here... now on an unbleached Earth as a human like a certain Grand Caster had done... well, there were a few notable details that differed the situation, notably that he was reborn here... and a few years before Ai was even born at that. Seriously, what the hell? Why is this so complicated!?
Well, he can at least be glad that his name is still Oberon, even after being reborn into a different world. He's not sure if that's the grail at work or just a happy coincidence, but it meant there wouldn't be too much confusion... even if he had to deal with the current impossibility that is finding Ai, let alone what state she's in.
Honestly, there was just way too much he didn't know... but even if B-Koma... whatever it was called, doesn't exist yet... it will eventually. So alas, Oberon was saddled with the first goal of... getting into the entertainment industry. The Japanese entertainment industry, specifically.
Well, it's a good thing he's good at working hard for long periods of time, all for the sake of leading up to one big goal.
He followed the Japanese idol sphere closely the whole while. He heard of B-Komachi practically the instant they had their debut, but as expected, there was no sign of Ai. She had mentioned that she was scouted later on, hadn't she? He really wasn't interested in them as a group, but because they would presumably have an eventual connection to Ai, he kept an eye on them anyway.
He was good at acting. He was once a Pretender, after all. That was his way into the entertainment sphere. Becoming a prodigious child actor was easy enough, building up his reputation and subtly manipulating others to get more opportunities... yes, while he was still a child, too. If anything it was easier because of that. Nobody expects this kind of thing from someone who, by all means, should still be learning the alphabet.
To reiterate... it was a lot of work to get where he is now, and boy did it suck! His fairy eyes may have been considerably dampened, but Oberon can see through human bullshit just as easily with or without, and the entertainment industry could get particularly ugly. Seriously, what made him want this in the first place... was Ai. What the hell is even the point of being reborn as a human if she's not there with him? She was the only thing that made the idea bearable! Appealing, even!
Still, he had moments of hope to push him forward. Ai's debut in B-Komachi finally arrived, and... well, at this point he had to face facts, she probably doesn't remember him. Things have followed what she told him of her life too well. Having the memories of yourself in your twenties would have to stir things up, but it hasn't. There was a chance, then, that those memories would only resurface upon something triggering it. Like meeting him, for example. He looks pretty much the same, after all... well, the same, barring being much younger. He's three whole years older than her, but that still made him a teenager at the time she had her debut.
So with all of that in mind... he had to keep his distance. Because if meeting him would cause her memories to surface, then they couldn't meet now... and for a very obvious reason: her children didn't exist yet.
Whoever she hooked up with... well, he doesn't like the idea of that, but it's for the greater good. Whoever she hooked up with would be hard to hook up with—and consequently, get knocked up by—if she meets and remembers the guy who she had a lot of sex with in her future twenties before it happens.
So he waited. Waited and heard of Ai's hiatus due to health concerns... and promptly let out a long, long groan.
He wants to be there with her. He wants to be with her, right now... a part of him considers if it would be fine now. If now that she's pregnant with her beloved children, it would be safe to find her. Sure, it would make the future different from what they know, but... he misses her.
...Not that it's possible. She didn't mention which hospital she went to while they were still together, it simply never came up. He knows it's out of the city, but that doesn't exactly narrow it down. Ai's wherabouts at that point were a tightly-kept secret that he would have a hard time finding.
So... more waiting. More acting. He's become something of a household name in the Japanese Entertainment sphere... and perhaps being foreign helped in grabbing attention as well.
Ai made her return to the spotlight at last. He watched her return interview and nearly spat out his own drink when she very nearly outed her own secret almost right away... but whatever, that's Ai for you. They can meet now, can't they...? It should be fine... right? ]
"Ah, you're here! We're so glad you decided to join us, Oberon-san!"
Please, the pleasure is all mine. Now, I believe I heard that an idol would be joining us...?
"Eh? How did you know?"
Oh, it's just a little something I heard on my way in. It's no problem, I've just never met one in-person before, so I got a little... interested? Yes, interested.
"Ah, I see! Well, it's as you say, she's..."
[ He exchanged pleasantries with the director as he usually does with others in this world. This is just a talk show, Ai's debut into taking on more acting roles and jobs having provided the perfect opportunity to secretly nudge some higher ups' attentions toward her. They requested her participation, she agreed, and now...
...He'll admit it's uncharacteristically impatient of him, but he just... can't help it. He blames it on her, really. Making him this needy for her. He swiftly and cleanly ends his conversation with the director and starts looking around to try and spot her... and yet having no luck. She must not be in the room yet... ]
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Not that Ai Hoshino would know anything about that. Extraordinary as she is as a human she's still nothing more than that. If there's gods or anyone up there, they're definitely not paying any attention to her. Her luck, her misfortune and everything else that makes up her life is down to human hands and nothing more.
It's nice to imagine that someone might, though. That her wishes, selfish as they are, matter to anyone at all but herself. When she thinks about it too hard, it makes her chest ache in some odd mix of deja vu, a sort of longing nostalgia that has no direction or source. It surfaces at equally strange times, too, triggered by the most arbitrary things: a coat lined with fur at the neck in the window of a shop, the sight of moths crowding around a streetlamp at night. Cornflower blonde hair and pairings of red and blue in certain shades.
When she goes to Lalalie and meets that boy for the first time, it crests into something almost painful to endure - then wanes into curious disappointment. It isn't as though she's been looking for something but at the same time, she's nagged with the feeling that this still isn't it.
She goes again and makes her mistakes all the same, of course. It's the closest anyone like her will ever come to loving someone. When Aqua and Ruby are put into her arms for the first time, the ache crescendos, so lovely and all encompassing that she can hardly stand it and she thinks that maybe this was the thing she'd been looking for without even realising she'd been missing it.
(Maybe it's the Grail that has a sense of humour about these things. But of course, Ai wouldn't know anything about that.)
It's a day like any other when she kisses the twins goodbye and gets bundled into the car by Miyako. A spot on a talk show promoting her other projects - nothing special. There are other guests, of course, but celebrity encounters have long since lost their shine for her. It's a little surprising that she's appearing alongside a man - well, technically still a boy - but just as idols are girls well into their 20s, boys with pretty faces are men as soon as the industry can get away with calling them that. But from what she's heard of his reputation, he's tidy and neat in the same way B-Komachi is - no scandals, no romance mishaps - so maybe he's 'safe'.
As safe as anyone in this industry gets, anyway. ]
Good morning! [ She practically singsongs it as she pushes the door open, Miyako trailing behind her with the longsuffering expression of a woman accompanying her child to an extracurricular activity ] We didn't keep you waiting, did we?
[ If only she knew... ]
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Yet despite being in the middle of a conversation... the instant that singsong voice of hers rings in his ears, his smile drops and his neck snaps to look in the direction of her voice faster than he's ever done before.
It's her. ]
...
"Um... sir, is everything alright?"
[ He's fixated. He can't look away. How long has it been since he got to lay his eyes on her in-person? He's seen her on TV, seen her through a screen, of course he has... but... ]
A-Ah... yeah...
[ It's not like he's alone. He can spot right away a good number of individuals in the room who found their eyes fixed on her as well... her natural charisma just as radiant as he remembers. Yet while most of them snap out of it, getting back to work or returning her greeting, he...
...he can't look away. It's like his brain stopped working and now he's just, staring slackjawed at her. ]
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But it's Miyako who seems to notice him first. Maybe Ai's just being polite, or maybe the intensity of his gaze is something she's so used to by now it barely registers. But Miyako's eyes flit over to him and narrow in something between caution and annoyance. It's only then that Ai follows her gaze and looks at him properly for the first time.
It's not dramatic at all. No grand swell of emotions when their eyes meet. Something certainly tries - her heart surges, trembling and alive in a way that catches her by surprise, but with nothing to contextualize it, she has no idea what to make of the feeling. Without knowing why it's excitement and relief, the pace of her heart just feels like anxiety.
She doesn't look through him like a stranger, though. Somehow, it's worse than that. ]
So we're today's guests, huh? Heehee, it's pretty exciting getting to go on with a real actor.
[ She smiles, warm and polite, picture perfect and exactly the way an idol should greet a fan. It almost looks like the first smile she ever gave him - a surrender, a showing of the belly. She might do a better job of covering it here, but behind her eyes, there's still a trembling prey animal. ]
Nice to meet you.
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He wishes he hadn't, though. Of all times to need his mind working, this is almost certainly one of them. ]
...Yeah, nice to meet—
[ Nice to... meet you...
His hand comes up in a practiced motion, like muscle memory, to take her hand... only to stop short.
Nice to meet you.
It's not like he hadn't considered the possibility. The possibility that her memories wouldn't return. That she would look at him... like...
N i c e t o m e e t y o u
He feels his face go pale. He can only hope his already-pale complexion hides it well enough that it goes unnoticed. ]
...Nice to meet you too, Ai-san.
[ He smiles. Smiles as if blood hasn't drained from his face as his frozen hand finds movement again and shakes hers. She's just the way he remembers her, he can see past her act just as well as he could before, and yet... ]
You'll have to forgive me, things have been rather hectic, you know? I didn't mean to stare. Please, just call me Oberon.
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She looks at him with open curiosity - or maybe that she's observing some manner of curiosity, an interesting interruption to the routine she'd expected. But then just as quick, her expression shifts back into a smile again.
It's not fake. For Ai of B-Komachi, it's all perfectly natural.
But Hoshino Ai's smile isn't anywhere to be seen. ]
If it helps, I didn't even notice. Occupational hazard, you know? [ Even her cheeky smile isn't quite right. ] That's a cool name, though! It's from a play, isn't it?
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[ His laugh, meanwhile, is as fake as can be. He's better than this, he's better at making it seem natural... and to others, it does seem natural.
But it's not. It's the most forced he's felt in a long time. It's always been effortless before, but this time... as he stands here with Ai's hand in his, her hand in his after all this time...
He can't help but be shaken to his very core. A sensation that makes him want to throw up, right then and there. ]
Mmhm, A Midsummer Night's Dream. You've heard of it, then?
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[ Which is strange, when she thinks about it - Lalalie was a Japanese theater company. But they'd also been a dirt broke one at the time, too. Maybe they were just scraping the bottom of the barrel for whatever they could afford the rights to.
She'd only really skimmed it at the time, but the names had stuck in her head. For whatever reason. ]
I guess your parents knew you were gonna be an actor, huh?
[ From behind her, Miyako clears her throat. Their hands are still linked, after all - Ai only realizes a moment too late that they've been holding on for too long. It doesn't feel at all uncomfotable for her hand to be in his, but she slips it free anyway. ]
Well... let's do our best today, yeah?
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[ Said with a playful wink before he lets go of her hand as well, quickly hiding it in his pocket to hide how it's trembling.
He hates this. He hates every second of this. She's right there... she's right there... and yet he says nothing. Not like there's much he can say that doesn't sound... well, completely insane. She doesn't remember him. The Ai he knows and loves is hidden behind that thick mask of lies that she had when they first met...
Is that it, then? The woman who greedily wished for everything... for him, for her children, for her own happiness... just going to forget him, just like that? Then what even is the point? Start over...!?
...Is it his fault? Is this his curse finally catching up to him? Since becoming human, his words have become worthy of the truth... but they weren't back then. Is this the result? Was their love... just a dream? Thoughtlessly cast aside as but a single night's revelry?
Is this his punishment, then? For daring to grasp what can never be his? ]
Don't worry, it'll be easy. Just be yourself! If nothing else, I can promise to watch out for you! It's the least I can do for another actor, right?
[ ...Except it doesn't matter, does it?
That's right, it doesn't matter anymore... it never has. Whether Ai remembered him or not was only ever secondary. He promised to fulfill her wish, didn't he?
Someone is after her life. Someone is going to kill Hoshino Ai... and he can't allow that.
He has a near-endless number of reasons to be pissed... hell, he probably is under that calm expression, but that's fine. It is what it is.
She doesn't have to know. She just has to live. ]
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Someone saves her. And perhaps she shouldn't be surprised in the least. Saving her is all he's ever done, after all.
It takes some time for her heart to find its place in her chest again. Foreign feelings saturate her body in the days after the attack and she's too numb from shock and confusion in the immediate aftermath. They're questioned by the police, she dutifully gives them all the information she has and when she and Oberon part ways once again it takes all her self control not to go chasing after him. She doesn't even know why. Or rather, she hadn't, not at the time.
Now, though...
What a bizarre route for the Grail to have taken in granting her wish. Undeniably, it's done exactly as she asked - and that's what frightens her the most. She'd asked for a long, happy life for all the people she loves and for herself too and that's exactly what she's been given. But she hadn't phrased things precisely enough to know for sure if it means them all having that happiness together.
She wants to believe it must. Why else would he have been here just in time to save her? But the Oberon she knows, the one who knows her in turn - surely he would never have just let her walk away. Not if he remembered. Maybe this is the extent of the miracle she's been granted - to be saved and nothing more than that. Maybe anyone else would be happy with that much.
But Ai's too greedy for her own good. She always has been. And when his address falls into her lap entirely by chance - police reports are just a little too well informed, it seems - she can't bring herself not to test her luck a little further. She makes up a lie to Miyako and the President that she's sure neither of them believe but they dutifully swallow anyway and she sets out, clueless and stubborn, to try and put her doubts to rest, one way or the other.
Just as her luck would have it, the heavens open as she makes her way over. Enough so that she's soaked to the skin and shuddering in the cold by the time she gets to his apartment building (just close enough to her own that she has to wonder). With a trembling hand, she skims the intercom buttons until she finds the right one and before she can let herself hesitate, she pushes it. And even with her hair plastered to her face and her shudders rattling her tiny frame, she manages a winning smile into the camera. ]
Sorry to barge in! Mind letting me up before I freeze?
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Unfortunately, though, he got unlucky and ended up having to catch the knife with his bare hand... which let him wrench the thing out of the killer's grasp, but in exchange for a nasty slash on his palm. His hand is still thoroughly wrapped up in a bandage after some doctors took a look at him... and it still hurts like hell, honestly.
Needless to say, Ai's dome concert was cancelled... probably not forever, but still, it's hardly the most important thing on Oberon's mind.
He did it. Twenty-four years... all for the sake of that one moment. What happens from here is a mystery... honestly it's entirely possible that she could just get into another mess and end up dead anyway. It's not like it'd surprise him if the world decided to spit in his face like that.
But he did it. He... saved her.
The question of what he does from here... remains unfortunately unanswered, though. Ever since then, he's been... listless, for the lack of a better word. Just laying around in his apartment, trying to ignore the pulsing pain in his hand.
Then, unexpectedly, he hears the buzzer... and her voice.
His reaction is... embarrassingly delayed, but the fact remains that he nearly falls off his couch in scrambling towards the answering machine. ]
Y-You...
[ There she is... right there on camera... and looking absolutely freezing what the hell? ]
W-What the hell are you doing out in the...!
[ Ugh... what the hell, how did she even get his address? Sure he was nearby, but it can't have been that easy... and why is she here? What, to thank him...?
He briefly considers the possibility... the possibility that she'd remember him, but surely if she had, she wouldn't have just let him walk away... right? ]
U-Ugh... come in, then...
[ What kind of idol shows up at a guy's home with no warning asking to be let inside...? Is she asking for a scandal?? In any case, the buzzer beeps, signaling that she's being let inside. ]
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So she makes her way up. She tries not to think too much about what she might or might not say when she's in there or how much trouble she might or might not get into because of it. All that really matters is that she wants to be there full stop.
She doesn't bother knocking when she reaches his door - he's buzzed her in and he's expecting her, so she just gives a quick courtesy rap of her knuckles before pushing the door open and stepping inside, her smile sheepish. ]
Heehee. Can you believe my luck that I didn't bring an umbrella? I'll probably drip everywhere, sorry...
[ With a clock, she shuts the door behind her. ]
Um... is it okay to ask how you're doing after all that?
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I'd say it's more surprising that I have Ai herself arriving at my door soaked from the rain... you know there are less suggestive ways to thank someone, right?
[ Huh, he's acting a whole lot differently compared to that talk show way back when... or in general whenever he's on a screen.
Though to Ai, it's much more familiar, isn't it?To answer her question, he raises his bandaged hand so she can see it. ]
About as well as I can be. Better than being stabbed, at least.
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[ She gets to towelling her hair dry as she makes her way further inside, trying not to make her inspection of the place too obvious. It's tidier than she expected... so even he can keep things from turning into a garbage heap when he has to, huh.
With her hair as dry as it's going to get, she lets the towel drape around her neck - her clothes are beyond help at his point - and tries to put her clueless smile back on but the instant she sees his still bandaged hand, her face falls. ]
Ah...
[ It'd all been such a blur that she'd hardly taken it in but that was right. He'd gotten hurt trying to save her, hadn't he? She just... hadn't realised it was quite this bad.
She doesn't even bother trying to control her expression. She just steps forward and tentatively, hesitantly, lifts her hands to take his. Just so she can get a closer look. ]
Mm. I guess it's definitely the preferable option. [ Her voice is flat. ] ...I still don't like it.
[ Even after all this time, the idea of him getting hurt for her is just... ]
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[ You know, since being almost murdered tends to leave a person fairly shaken.
...Honestly, he's not sure what to do in this situation. With Ai, who doesn't remember him, coming to him for the sake of thanking him for saving her life. Despite the fact that there are certainly better way sto go about that with a man who is, by all means, a stranger to her.
Still, being lost in thought means being caught off-guard Ai steps forward... and allowing her to take his bandaged hand in hers.
He wishes he wasn't immediately blushing. ]
...You don't have to like it, but... I don't regret it, if that makes you feel any better.
[ ...Despite that, though, he can't exactly ignore that she's still completely soaked. Sure, she dried her hair, but wearing wet clothes is still plenty likely to get you sick. ]
...Gah, fine, whatever! Scandals be damned, you're too damn wet! How long were you out in the rain anyway!?
[ He raises his unhurt hand and places it roughly on the top of her head, frowning down at her. It's been raining for a while, so if she's been out like this for too long, just throwing a towel at her and bundling her up isn't gonna do much. ]
Warm shower, now. I didn't save your life just for you to catch a goddamn cold, so unless you're leaving, you better warm the hell up.
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It's probably a little irresponsible. But so was coming over here to begin with, huh?
[ The grin she flashes him is a little forced... and then it eases back into that tentative, uncertain little smile. ]
Um... maybe it's a little much to ask when I showed up out of nowhere like this but I don't... W-well, I'll have to borrow some clothes. If that's okay.
[ A flat refusal is as good an excuse as any to flee back home after all. ]
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...Fine, no complaining about the size, though.
[ Did he seriously just say that? Actually, what the hell is she thinking asking that!? All of his clothes are bound to dwarf her in size, so her wearing his clothes...
The reasonable thing to do would be to say no, or provide an alternative... but instead he said sure!?
...God he must miss her way more than he thought, and that's saying something. ]
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That's the first realization on Oberon's mind as light streams in through the window. It's manageable, but it feels like he just ran a goddamn marathon... and maybe that analogy isn't too off. He's had to keep fit for the sake of his acting roles, but this was something else.
...Wait, hold on, where's— ]
...!
[ At some point during the night after he passed out, he must've slipped out of her to unconsciously lay on his back. Presumably, he still held onto her, but the worst possible scenario suddenly flits into his head.
Waking up... and her being gone.
His eyes shoot wide open, and his head snaps to look at his side. On one side there's nothing, nobody there, just his empty arm and his heart starts to sink...
...and then he looks to the other side, and— ]
Ah...
[ ...There she is. There she is. Resting on his arm like a pillow, dishiveled as one should expect after everything they just did... there she is. ]
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She's still fast asleep when he stirs, her breath deep and slow and even. But after a moment she stirs as well - maybe it's the motion of him shifting to look at her or it's the intensity of his gaze - and her eyes flutter open. For a moment, she just blinks at him, slow and sleepy... but then a smile unfurls onto her face like a blossom popping open under the sun. ]
Heehee. Good morning.
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[ All of his tension just... vanishes. Melts away under her warm, warm gaze. She's all disheveled, ruined, his bite marks got darker overnight and are even clearer as a result... but god is she beautiful. ]
H-Hah...
[ His intense eyes soften... and he reaches over to pull her close again. ]
You stayed...
[ To think he had gotten so scared... ]
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[ It's playful, though, with no bite at all and when he pulls her close, Ai tucks herself against him, face in the crook of his neck and her arm tossed loosely around him in return. She absolutely isn't going to protest being held. ]
... I'll have to go home today. The Prez and Miyako-san know I was staying away for the night, but... I can at least stay with you for a little longer.
[ She kisses the underside of his jaw. ]
And I'll come back as soon as I can.
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[ He's kidding, but that doesn't make him any less right, does it? He grins, lightly poking her side, close to where her abdomen is.
What can he say? Teasing her is a good way to hide how pathetically relieved he was that she was still here when he woke up.]Pregnant at 16 and yet you still haven't learned anything... I pity your poor manager.
[ So he says, but he's still returning kisses to her as she speaks, peppering her with the affection he'd always wanted to freely give to her. ]
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[ Pout pout, huff huff. Just look at how totally offended she is. ]
This was... extenuating circumstances! Or something like that. I wasn't exactly planning ahead so I had to improvise a bit. But it all worked out well, didn't it?
[ the bitemarks on her neck tell a very different story. and so will saitou when he sees them, probably. ]
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[ She's so cute when she's pouting and huffy... he pulls his hand back to lightly flick her forehead. ]
It all worked out... but just so you know, idols don't usually go sleeping with anyone who saves them, even if it does make for a nice reward. Especially with no-good guys like me. After all...
[ He leans in close again, kissing her neck and lower jaw. ]
This no-good man is going to take full advantage of you from now on...
[ Oh, what a truly heinous villain he is. ]
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[ She tries to keep up her huffy puffy tone but it takes all of a few seconds before she's giggling again, giving a lock of his hair a playful tug. ]
You really think I would've come wandering over here for just anybody who saved me? [ She lets his hair slip from her fingers so she can start stroking the back of his head instead. ] It's more like it's because you're such a no-good guy that I came over to say thank you in person.
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