[ Hoshino Ai dies on the morning of her 20th birthday, murdered in a jealous rage by a violent fan.
Oh, wait. That isn't quite right, is it?
'Ai of B-Komachi' dies after being stabbed in a jealous rage by a violent fan. She bleeds pure love out from her heart and the illusion shatters: when the news reports her hospitalization later that day, the name they use is "Hoshino Ai", for the first time since her debut.
Ai had asked them to. Really, it was impressive she'd been lucid enough to say anything at all by the time the police and the ambulance had arrived but she remembers saying that much, at least. And she remembers pouring those words out again and again until Aqua and Ruby weren't there to hear them anymore: I love you. I love you. I love you.
She spends two months in the hospital. She doesn't remember the first week particularly well and the days after are a blur of white walls, tubes and itchy bandages and the sharp, wooly smell of antiseptic. Ichigo and Miyako visit her. Aqua and Ruby only leave her side when they're physically removed from the room. The girls from B-Komachi make appearances: Kyun and Takamine come by once a week. Nino had spent an afternoon sitting with her, talking, laughing and crying and then never visited again. But that's okay.
Even when she returns home — or rather, goes home to the new apartment that her family had been moved into while the doctors had been patching her back together, she doesn't quite feel like she's come back to the real world. Something has changed; something has tilted on an axis that Ai isn't quite sure she can turn back.
It's been four months since Ai of B-Komachi was murdered and nobody has broached the topic of bringing her back from the dead yet.
Ai doesn't quite know how to feel about that.
She's still a celebrity, though. There are things she can do for Strawberry Productions, even as she is. She can't work in the same capacity she did before, not for another few months at least, so she pivots to net content as and when she has the energy for it. Support has been overwhelming; she thinks, wryly, that if she'd known a little blood sacrifice would make her this popular, she would've gotten it over with sooner.
But she'll keep that joke to herself.
She's alone at the apartment on the day things take another turn — Ruby and Aqua are at school, a recent and tentative return to normal routine. Ichigo and Miyako, too, have gone back to Strawberry Productions — they have a whole talent agency to run, after all. Which means there's nobody else around to hear when Ai hums out loud in thought from her spot on the sofa where she's been mindlessly scrolling her phone. ]
What's this...?
[ It's an icon on her home screen she doesn't recognize. There's no name — is it a glitch? An app that didn't install properly? She'd assume it was some kind of virus but this is her personal phone and she's had that sealed up with every kind of privacy software and antivirus known to man since she was sixteen years old.
So against her better judgement — as most things are — she taps it to open it up.
[The chat program opens instantly, not even seeming to need a first time install of any sort, or signing up for an account. It's quite similar to a gaming chat app in both style and function, in cool blues and blacks.
She already even has someone on her friends' list, and they are online. Right away a direct message opens, and someone called the Grim Reaper with a skull pfp starts typing]
[ Ai sits up a little straighter. She's not entirely sure what she'd been expecting to see but this... really wasn't it. Is it one of those bot programs or something? The ones that are made to make you think you're chatting to a real person?
... How did it even get on her phone in the first place?
She thinks about backing out of the app and just flat out deleting it but... she's curious. Sitting around the apartment with nothing to do when she's so used to working has her needing a little enrichment. ]
Isn't that just common sense? The internet's a pretty scary place! So protecting yourself is the smart thing to do.
Really? I figured this was like one of those chatbot things they have on company websites Where they try and pretend it's a real person... So I was like "oh, they're cutting corners and using those to do ad reads now!" And that's why it's so gimmicky, yeah?
[ 'it's a chatbot' she said, and then carried on chattering away... ]
I can see that! You really went all in on the branding. And this chat program is really slick... That's why I'm thinking it's gotta be for an ad. You'd only put this much money into something if it was MAKING you money. So what's it for?
[ "The Grim Reaper is typing..." starts and stops repeatedly. He doesnt want to upset her, considering the nature of her "death"- though he's not sure why he cares. That was the whole problem! He's ferried thousands of souls with more gruesome deaths with no issue.]
It Is Not For Anything Nefarious.
...
I Need To Know If There Is Something Particular About You That Is Interrupting My Duties.
[ Oh my God, even when she mutes her whole phone the notifications still get though, she even turned the volume all the way down and it's still pinging— a call notification?! Seriously? She can hang up, right? ... Of course not, there's no way to reject the call. Figures. No way is she actually answering this thing, though.
She lets it ring out for a good twenty seconds before the anxiety of an unanswered phone call finally gets to her and she snatches her phone back up. She fumbles with it for a second — no way is she accepting this call while letting whoever's on the other end see her — before covering the front camera with her thumb and finally picking up, chattering away at high speed before he can speak. ]
Yes, hello, I'm here! No, I'm not interested in whatever you're selling, thank you very much! Unsubscribe, cancel membership, bye bye, see you later!
[ the video shows a young man of similar age to Ai sitting in what looks like a PC gamer chair with a very goth looking bedroom behind him. Not a call center for sure. He's leaned forward with anticipation, about to speak before she goes off]
Wha- wait, I told you this wasn't an ad-
... what happened to the camera? Is it broken...?
[annnnd there he goes fiddling with his camera, giving a close up of his hands instead of anything useful]
[ . . . Huh. That's really not what she was expecting to see and yet at the same time, it's kind of exactly what she was expecting to see??? ... He's a little old to be this deep in a chuunibyou phase, though... ]
It's working just fine. Haven't you ever heard you're supposed to cover your camera if you think someone weird's watching you on the internet?
[ 'like you' — she doesn't say but really, does she need to. ]
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Oh, wait. That isn't quite right, is it?
'Ai of B-Komachi' dies after being stabbed in a jealous rage by a violent fan. She bleeds pure love out from her heart and the illusion shatters: when the news reports her hospitalization later that day, the name they use is "Hoshino Ai", for the first time since her debut.
Ai had asked them to. Really, it was impressive she'd been lucid enough to say anything at all by the time the police and the ambulance had arrived but she remembers saying that much, at least. And she remembers pouring those words out again and again until Aqua and Ruby weren't there to hear them anymore: I love you. I love you. I love you.
She spends two months in the hospital. She doesn't remember the first week particularly well and the days after are a blur of white walls, tubes and itchy bandages and the sharp, wooly smell of antiseptic. Ichigo and Miyako visit her. Aqua and Ruby only leave her side when they're physically removed from the room. The girls from B-Komachi make appearances: Kyun and Takamine come by once a week. Nino had spent an afternoon sitting with her, talking, laughing and crying and then never visited again. But that's okay.
Even when she returns home — or rather, goes home to the new apartment that her family had been moved into while the doctors had been patching her back together, she doesn't quite feel like she's come back to the real world. Something has changed; something has tilted on an axis that Ai isn't quite sure she can turn back.
It's been four months since Ai of B-Komachi was murdered and nobody has broached the topic of bringing her back from the dead yet.
Ai doesn't quite know how to feel about that.
She's still a celebrity, though. There are things she can do for Strawberry Productions, even as she is. She can't work in the same capacity she did before, not for another few months at least, so she pivots to net content as and when she has the energy for it. Support has been overwhelming; she thinks, wryly, that if she'd known a little blood sacrifice would make her this popular, she would've gotten it over with sooner.
But she'll keep that joke to herself.
She's alone at the apartment on the day things take another turn — Ruby and Aqua are at school, a recent and tentative return to normal routine. Ichigo and Miyako, too, have gone back to Strawberry Productions — they have a whole talent agency to run, after all. Which means there's nobody else around to hear when Ai hums out loud in thought from her spot on the sofa where she's been mindlessly scrolling her phone. ]
What's this...?
[ It's an icon on her home screen she doesn't recognize. There's no name — is it a glitch? An app that didn't install properly? She'd assume it was some kind of virus but this is her personal phone and she's had that sealed up with every kind of privacy software and antivirus known to man since she was sixteen years old.
So against her better judgement — as most things are — she taps it to open it up.
What's the worst that could happen? ]
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She already even has someone on her friends' list, and they are online. Right away a direct message opens, and someone called the Grim Reaper with a skull pfp starts typing]
Your Security Is Surprisingly Through.
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[ Ai sits up a little straighter. She's not entirely sure what she'd been expecting to see but this... really wasn't it. Is it one of those bot programs or something? The ones that are made to make you think you're chatting to a real person?
... How did it even get on her phone in the first place?
She thinks about backing out of the app and just flat out deleting it but... she's curious. Sitting around the apartment with nothing to do when she's so used to working has her needing a little enrichment. ]
Isn't that just common sense?
The internet's a pretty scary place!
So protecting yourself is the smart thing to do.
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Of Course I Was Able To Break In Regardless
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[ "a mortal", huh... Well, it's on brand for the whole Grim Reaper bit so she's got to give them points for consistency.
Speaking of brands, though... ]
So is this the part where you start with the ad read?
For a premium subscription or something.
Or whatever this is supposed to sell me.
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I Am Not Selling Anything
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I figured this was like one of those chatbot things they have on company websites
Where they try and pretend it's a real person...
So I was like "oh, they're cutting corners and using those to do ad reads now!"
And that's why it's so gimmicky, yeah?
[ 'it's a chatbot' she said, and then carried on chattering away... ]
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Do You Mean Robot?
I Am Not A Robot! I Am The Grim Reaper!
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You really went all in on the branding.
And this chat program is really slick...
That's why I'm thinking it's gotta be for an ad.
You'd only put this much money into something if it was MAKING you money.
So what's it for?
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...
It's Purpose Is Observation.
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[ ... she has a horrible feeling she doesn't want to ask this question, and yet: ]
Observing what, exactly?
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It Is Not For Anything Nefarious.
...
I Need To Know If There Is Something Particular About You That Is Interrupting My Duties.
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...
So this whatever you're observing
is me?
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And Yes.
1/2
Ai closes the app. ]
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1/?
No way she actually-]
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I'm The Grim Reaper You Can't Escape Me That Easily!
...
Answer Me!
Hello?
Did It Not Install Correctly?
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...
okay it says it's connected why aren't you answering
test test
Answer Me!!
...
did you die??? you're not allowed to do that yet!!
...
maybe i should call?
yes, i'll call you won't ignore that, right?
End
Answer?]
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She lets it ring out for a good twenty seconds before the anxiety of an unanswered phone call finally gets to her and she snatches her phone back up. She fumbles with it for a second — no way is she accepting this call while letting whoever's on the other end see her — before covering the front camera with her thumb and finally picking up, chattering away at high speed before he can speak. ]
Yes, hello, I'm here! No, I'm not interested in whatever you're selling, thank you very much! Unsubscribe, cancel membership, bye bye, see you later!
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Wha- wait, I told you this wasn't an ad-
... what happened to the camera? Is it broken...?
[annnnd there he goes fiddling with his camera, giving a close up of his hands instead of anything useful]
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It's working just fine. Haven't you ever heard you're supposed to cover your camera if you think someone weird's watching you on the internet?
[ 'like you' — she doesn't say but really, does she need to. ]
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Is that so...? Well, that's not an issue since I am not weird.
[he sits back in his seat, resting his face on his wrist like a lounging king on his throne]
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