vulpeculaet | Ruby Hoshino open post!

anonymous m
pinnochio-p

「what's your favorite food?」

i don't eat. that's for humans to do.

「anything you enjoy doing in your free time?」

i don't rest. that's for humans to do.

「i'm sorry, may i ask your age?」

sixteen years old. i don't age.

「you don't age?」

that's for humans to do. i'm not human like you.

[In Starsand, Ruby has had so much to get used to. Ai- her Mama- is alive. They get to be a family again. Aqua is here too, she guesses. And even Loli-senpai...

With Kana and Ai, they can make the ultimate B-Komachi, right?

After all, idols are timeless. With the ageless Ai's talent, Ruby's hard work, and Kana's cute face, they can put on the ultimate performance... right?

So now, there's only one thing to do:]

Mama! Mama, pat my head!

[that wasn't it, ruby. She may be a teenager, but it's like she's trying to make up for all the headpats she missed as a kid...?]

[ Ai isn't strictly new to Starsand anymore, even if she is particularly fresh faced compared to some of the others here. Even so, she still isn't fully convinced that she's not living out some strange, sweet dream. It's a little hard to sleep at night sometimes because of it - there's always the chance that maybe when she closes her eyes, the next time she opens them will be to the hallway of the apartment, Aqua shaking and heaving in her arms and the coppery reek of blood in her nose, her mouth, her brain.

... Put like that, it's sort of a miracle that she hasn't had some kind of meltdown yet. Or, well. Not a big one. ... Not in public, anyway.

Even with the fear lingering, it isn't quite enough to overpower everything else, the disbelieving gratitude that comes with having Ruby and Aqua both here with her. It's been a little strange for all of them and a little bit too adjust to but when has their family not been unconventional? And moreover...

This probably means even more to Aqua and Ruby than it does to her. So even if it really is just a dream, Ai will do everything she can to make sure that when they do all eventually wake up, the memories that remain are sweet enough to make up for the sting. ]

Heehee, have you been working hard at practice today? Okay, okay.

[ It's a little funny to have to reach up to pat Ruby's head but she doesn't miss a beat before going for it. ]

Actually, you're working hard at practice every day, huh? Are you excited about debuting?

I am!

[Ruby doesn't know how Ai is here, frankly. She doesn't know how she herself is here.

On some level, she has a suspicion, though. After all, deep inside... Hasn't she had the thought before? That she wants to go where Ai was?

Maybe someone had figured it out and come for revenge... or maybe it happened in her sleep. At least this time, her death wasn't painful, like Sarina's was. And if it brought her to where Ai was, then wasn't that fine? That was far more important to her. And it brought her to this place full of kami and spirits, a supernatural world... Somewhere out of the reach of living mortals.

If she had died again, then it once again brought her to Ai. That was what really mattered.

As Ai pats her head, she smiles happily. Even if Ai has to reach up, she's still just as happy and cheerful for it as she was as a child.]

I am! I can't wait to debut... I want to show Mama how far I've come!

I'm excited to see it. I always knew you'd shine bright when you debuted and now everyone else gets to see it as well.

[ It stirs something complicated in her chest to think of Ruby as an idol. Ai knows better than anyone how impure and dirty the industry makes everything that touches it and the thought of Ruby's pure and innocent love being dirtied by association gives her a chill. As a mother, it's the last thing she want.

And yet... as her mother, she wants Ruby's dream to come true. She wants to see her on stage, shining as brightly as Ai knows she can and she wants everyone else to see and love her just as much as Ai does.

Maybe here it's okay. Maybe in this place, with all its impossible happenings, can make a wish that simple come true. ]

Have we settled on a setlist yet? We'll have to start moving to group rehearsals soon if we want to make sure we're really polished. [ Her warm voice turns a little teasing. ] You won't be too nervous rehearsing with me, will you?

Of course I won't! I've danced with you before, after all!

[... when she was a child. But... Still. For all her airheaded nature, Ruby is more serious than anyone else about wanting to be an idol. She's put a ton of thought into it- Even the setlist.]

I've been thinking... At first, I thought we should hold off B is the Sign until the very end, so it makes a much bigger impact, but since no one here knows B-Komachi, we have to start with it after all!

But I can't believe no one here knows B-Komachi! Even if it is another world, that's still a crime! A sin! B-Komachi is the best!

[... The one downside of Ai being alive here, of course, is that Ruby is slowly regaining her habit of slipping back into her "horrible wota" tendencies.]

[ She's been gradually getting used to the people Ruby and Aqua are now, catching up quickly on all the changes that she usually would have had years to see the shapes of. She likes the people they've grown up to be and it's exciting to see all the ways in which they're different to how they were as children... but every now and then, something familiar comes peeking out and it delights her every time she sees it. ]

Calling it a crime's a little much, isn't it? It's not like they've ever had the chance to learn – but that's why we're here to teach them!

[ B is the Sign first is a surprisingly smart call – maybe the sort Ai herself would make. Hearing Ruby say it first makes her feel warm and glad. ]

And after that? How many songs are you thinking we should go for?

Some crimes can't be forgiven, Mama.

[BACK TO BEING CHEERFUL.]

Most idol concerts go for two or three hours, right? But even if we have that many songs, our stamina might not last that long... Pieyon Boot Camp made it pretty clear where Kana and I are lacking. We made it through the whole hour, and if it's dancing instead of muscle training, we might make it the whole time, but it would be pretty obvious we'd be getting tired at the end. And we can't show that! So, I think an hour and a half might be our limit here. If we use twelve songs, that's about an hour, and the rest of the time we'd be switching between songs, and we could talk to the fans attending, to introduce ourselves!

What do you think?

[ Ai doesn't interrupt or make any comment – she just stands there with a smile and lets Ruby talk. It's hard to read exactly what she might think, at least at first... but then she sets her hands on her hips and the tone of her smile changes just a bit into something proud and fond. ]

I think you've got a good instinct for planning these sorts of things out. Ah, but you were always watching our concerts back when you were little... so I guess a lot of it is learning as well.

[ It's... well, again. It's the same sort of thing Ai would have suggested. She has mixed up feelings, gratitude and bitterness and relief all at once, knowing that without Ai, it had been Miyako who'd been a mother to Ruby and Aqua. Even so... when Ruby says things like that, it fills Ai with a warm certainty that even after being raised by another woman all her life, Ruby is still her mother's daughter in all the ways that really matter. ]

In terms of MCing... I think we should start as a group and then have a solo talk between each song, just to give people a little more time to get to know the individual members. Then we can pair up – you and me, you and Arima-san and then me and Arima-san... or something like that. Then we'll go back as a group. How about that?

Hehehe... I hope so. I've been watching Mama for so, so long, after all!

[Even before she was "Ruby"... Everything about Ai had been burned into her eyes. She wants to live up to Ai. She wants to shine... She wants to shine just like Ai.

She wants to shine alongside her.]

That sounds great! Well, of course it does, it was your idea! With the three of us... We'll blow Starsand away, with the greatest live they've ever seen!

Mhmm. Between the three of us, we'll have star power for days. And that's worth a lot here, huh?

[ Will they make a splash? Ai's reasonably confident they will. She can't really call it confidence but she knows how well her particular brand of idol magic works and with Ruby bolstering it with her own brand of pure passion and a hardworking girl like Arima Kana joining them, she'd be shocked if they didn't manage to net at least a small following.

Though, on that note... ]

What did Arima-san say when you asked her, by the way? Was she surprised?

Hm? Oh, I haven't asked her yet!

[She just.... is so matter-of-fact about this.]

But that's fine, right? I'll catch her up later!

. . .

Eh?

[ you can just SEE the mathlady.gif going on right now ]

So... she hasn't actually agreed to join yet?

[meanwhile, in more appropriate icons.]

She did back home!

[ DEEP... BREATH... ]

Right... but that was back home, wasn't it? From the sounds of things, Arima-san might be looking into other commitments here. What're you planning on doing if she can't commit to B-Komachi again?

...

[Sorry, you lost her at "can't commit to B-Komachi".]

[ In an absolutely SOUL-CRUSHING "I'm not mad just a little bit disappointed and I know you can do better" tone of voice: ] Ruby.

[OH

THAT'S HER HEART BEING SHATTERED INTO A MILLION PIECES]

But... I mean... We haven't even gotten to perform together yet...

[ Still a little admonishing, but gentler about it this time. ] Ruby.

[ okay, she'll help her along. ]

If Arima-san loves acting just as much as you love being an idol, wouldn't it be unfair to expect her to give up on the chance to do the thing she loves most?

I know, but...

[She shrinks in on herself a little.

She'd finally started to get along better with Kana... sort of. At least, Kana was starting to come around to her? Probably? And Ruby wasn't calling her loli-senpai anymore. That's progress, right?

She'd begun to think of Kana as a friend. She'd wanted to be with Kana, because they were friends. And if Kana moved on... would they still be friends? Would they still talk? Or would she be left alone in the hospital room again, waiting for someone who would never come, trying to fill the void in her heart with-

No. That isn't right.

~~Sarina~~Ruby isn't lonely now. AiMama is here. ~~She isn't loved~~She is loved.

She doesn't need to worry. They'll still be ~~alone~~friends.]

... I'll ask her...

[ She gives Ruby just a few seconds to stew – even if calling it that is maybe a little unkind – before reaching up and once again giving Ruby a gentle pat on the head. ]

Good girl. [ Her voice is back to being soft and fond. Maybe she babies Ruby a little more than she should a girl her age but... after being separated for this long and missing out on so much time, Ai thinks it's fine for both of them if she indulges on occasion. ] I'm sure if you just tell Arima-san you're excited about wanting to perform with her, she'll make the time for you. You're friends, after all. You just have to give her a chance to work out her schedule, that's all.

Ruby Hoshino open post!

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1/2

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using this icon feels so fucking cursed

oh my GOD

I'M SORRYYYY

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