The Betrayed Hero and the Idol

----- Ai POV -----

Today was going to be a great day!

Why, you may ask?

Well, that's because I'll get the chance to wear a swimsuit in front of Cas, of course!

Even though it's been more than a few years, I still got it!

"Don't I, Pyon?" I say, scratching the rabbit's ears lovingly.

The little guy was getting up there in age, and unfortunately, unlike me, it didn't have the benefit of eternal youth.

Well anyway, I should get going now, lest the pool closes before we get there.

"Cas! I'm gonna go take Kana and Ruby to the store before the pool, okay?" I say.

"Hm? Alright. Text me when you leave, and I'll bring the other three." He says, tapping away at his keyboard.

Apparently, his little autobiography had ended up getting quite popular.

So much so, that a company had even offered to serialize it.

So he had been quite busy this past week.

Well... I guess I could relieve some of his stress, if you know what I mean.

The website did say they had private saunas to rent...

"Okay, but speaking of the other three... do you know where little Aqua is?" I ask while fixing my hair in the mirror.

"He's at that acting practice of his. And I don't know if I would call him 'little'. He's nearly my height now." 

"Hmph! He'll always be 'little' to me."

I'm his mother after all!

"If you say so..." Cas replies with a small smile.

"I do say so! Anyway, I'll pick him up on the way, so you only need to bring the littles." I say.

"And his swimsuit?" Cas asks.

"You can bring it. Anyway, bye honey~! Love you!" I say.

"Bye. Love you too." He responds.

And with that, I made my way over to Kana's apartment.

Looking back at our house, I couldn't help but feel a wide smile creep onto my face.

It wasn't much, and it definitely wasn't grand, but it was home.

And that's all I could ever ask for.

Hmm... but I guess it was about time to weed the garden again, huh?

Yosh! 

Gardener Ai will be appearing tomorrow morning!

But for now, it's about time for us three cute girls to show off our beauty!

Knocking at the door, it doesn't take a second for it to open and reveal the two girls in question.

"Mama! You said we're going somewhere before the pool, right? Where to!?" Ruby asks.

"Fufufu~ It's about time Mama here teaches you girls about an important life skill," I say smugly.

"Oh? Really?" Kana says, eyes shining in excitement.

"Mhmm! But until we get, there, it's a secret, okay? Now let's get going!" I say with a wink.

Hehehe~ This will surely be fun.

----- 30 Minutes Later -----

"This... was not what I was expecting. At all." Kana says dully.

"Oh, cheer up, Kana! It's always fun to go shopping with Mama!" Ruby responds happily.

"Eh... I guess... But what about swimsuits is an important life skill?" Kana asks, turning toward me.

So innocent~

"Sexy? Cute? A mix of both? Here, all the answers to your questions will be answered, all to serve a singular purpose!" I say.

For some reason, despite my speech, Kana was still looking skeptically at me.

"And what exactly is that purpose, Ai?" She asks.

"To make your man putty in your hands!" I say, my eyes shining.

I give her a moment to soak up my bestowed knowledge, but all she says in response is...

"...I'm going home."

"Ah! Wait! I'll stop teasing, I swear!" I say quickly.

"Hmph!"

With my little teasing session ending before it could even start, the three of us then started looking at the selection of swimsuits.

Hmm... should I get something frilly?

I know Cas has a thing for dresses, but I also wouldn't mind changing it up a little bit.

And do I go for black?

Red?

Pink?

Ah, but that one is a bit too small, I don't want to accidentally flash everyone, after all, especially if I try out the water slides.

And knowing Amethyst... yeah, no.

"Ai? How does this one look?" Kana then asks.

Glancing over, I see that my future daughter-in-law had chosen quite a daring white two-piece, with a laced back that showed off her petite, smooth shoulders.

Ah, to be young~

"It looks great, Kana. Going for the purity look, aren't you? Trying to impress a certain someone?" I say with a grin.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." She says, averting her eyes.

Too easy.

Leaning in, I then whisper into her ear, "Just make sure you wear protection."

"Hwa!? Y-You said you'd stop teasing!" Kana says, cheeks flushing.

Did I?

"A-And besides. I'm 15!" She says.

"And I'm 30," I say, with a forced smile.

While I love my children to death and don't regret having them, I can't help but fantasize about being an innocent schoolgirl and meeting Cas that way.

Ah, but then again, I probably wouldn't be his neighbour in that case.

"O-Oh... yeah. I forgot." She says.

My eyebrow twitches.

"What do you mean by 'you forgot'?" I say.

"I-It's just that you look so much younger! I sometimes think you're Ruby's sister!" She says, waving her hands in front of her.

"Ah! I see~! Good girl~" I say, patting her head.

Averting her eyes in embarrassment, just as I'm about to keep petting the cute creature, Ruby steps out of the changing room.

"Mama! How's this?" She says confidently.

Looking at the light blue bikini she had decided to wear, only one thought surfaced in my head.

So cute~!

Haa~ if there was one thing I was thankful to Hikaru for, it had to be his genes.

Blonde hair and blue eyes that nearly perfectly matched Cassius, making Ruby and Aqua easily able to see my husband as their father, even if Aqua was taking some time to warm up to it.

And he also had a good enough face that let my features shine on Ruby's face, giving my daughter the best blend of beautiful and cute.

And she was surely only to get prettier as the years went by.

As I thought, it was a good idea to make her wait until she was 16 to head out into the idol world, even if she was sad about it.

Plus... she'll miss the moments like these once she gets famous.

Oh, and I'm sure she'll be famous.

She's my daughter, after all, and she has a pure love for being an idol which I never did, so she was sure to make it big.

"It's perfect, Ruby! You should get it! And a spare one too!" I say, clapping my hands excitedly.

"R-Really Mama? You don't think it's too... skimpy?" She asks.

"Oh please. If any boys give you trouble about it, you know your father will make them regret it. Besides, beautiful skin like yours deserves to be shown! Isn't that right, Kana?" I say.

"Huh? Yeah, I guess so. I think it looks good, Ruby." Kana says with a smile.

"Thanks, Loli-senpai." Ruby responds.

Kana's smile falls.

"I said to stop calling me that." She says.

"Oh, but you just look too cute right now!" Ruby responds.

Ah, youth~

How fun!

----- Akane POV - 1 Hour Later -----

"Dammit... what's the point then? Do I just... do I just lay here and wait for her to die? That's... that's way too sad..."

His fists clench, and his voice breaks at the perfect moment.

Aqua... while at first, I was a little skeptical about this tutoring, especially with someone my age, it seems that it hasn't been that bad of a decision.

"Wonderful job, Aqua. You projected it perfectly, and made sure to face the 'camera' for the important moments." I say in praise.

"Thanks. But what do you think I should work on?" He asks.

"Hmm... at this point, it's more of the little things, like lightning and acoustics, but quality productions will have specialists to point that out for you, so you shouldn't be too worried," I respond.

"I see... Still, this is good practice for me," he says.

"Mhmm! I feel the same! You've really grown since our first session. It's like night and day!" I say with a smile.

There was no lie there.

Aqua, at first, while having some good base skills, was obviously an amateur when it came to acting, and didn't have any 'spark' to make him shine despite his deficiencies, like most actors our age do.

But now, he could proudly stand on any set or stage, and I was even tempted to ask him to join Lala Lai.

But alas, it wasn't meant to be, as he had very clearly shown his want to remain independent.

"Anyway, you said you were leaving early today, right?" I ask.

"Yeah. The family's going to the pool, and Mom would have a fit if I didn't come, so..."

"No, I get it! Though I can't exactly relate to the three siblings part, haha!" 

"Yeah. They're a handful, but... I love them. Anyway, I should get going now," he says, heading toward the door.

Just before he reaches for the handle, the door opens for him, revealing a woman, who looked to be around 20, with chest-length purple hair, tied in a pair of braids.

For some reason, I felt like I had seen her before...

"Aqua! Just in time!" The 20-year-old says.

"Huh? I thought I was heading home before Cassius took me." Aqua responds.

"Yeah, but I decided to come get you. Aren't you happy? Now come give your Mama a hug and introduce me to your friend!"

...What?

"Haa... she's my tutor, Mama. Not exactly a friend."

He's going along with it!?

"Oh, boo! Someone who teaches you can be your friend too! Just take Cas for instance. He's taught me lots about-"

"Just stop, Mama. Please." Aqua says, cutting off his... mother?

Was that woman really a mom?

And of four at that?

"Whatever~ Anyway, you're Akane, right? Nice to meet you! I'm Ai, Aqua's Mama!" She says, walking up to me.

"Ah! Umm, nice to meet you too? Are... Are you really Aqua's mom? I thought you were his sister..." I say, still a little stunned about it all.

"Aww, you're gonna make me blush! But yep! I'm indeed this broody guy's mom!"

"I'm not broody."

Aqua's complaints are ignored.

"Anyway, I'd love to get to know you, but we do have to get going. Aqua, feel free to invite her over to dinner sometime," she says turning to Aqua.

"Haa... Yeah, whatever. Anyway, bye Akane. See you next week," he says, waving to me.

"A-Ah, okay. See you next week, Aqua," I answer.

Just as they're about to leave, a set of blonde hair pops up from behind Ai.

"Come on, we gotta get going! Papa's almost there, you know!"

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming Ruby. Maybe if you didn't interrupt, we'd already be on our way out."

"Well, maybe we'd already be out if you weren't staying behind talking to..."

She then looks toward me, and our eyes meet.

Pretty... that was all I could think.

Her dark pink eyes almost seemed to sparkle, while her blonde hair was set in a side ponytail.

Seeing her cute face... she was definitely Ai's child.

So this was one of Aqua's rumoured sisters...

"Anyway, stop embarrassing me even more in front of Akane, and let's go," Aqua says.

"Muu! Your Mama isn't embarrassing you, Aqua! This is my love!"

Ai then begins squishing Aqua's cheeks with a pout, needing to get on her tippy toes a little bit.

"Shtop... Pleashe..." Aqua pleads.

"No!"

But to no avail.

Soon enough, though, the three bid their farewells before heading out to their family activity, leaving me alone to write a few notes on Aqua's progress.

But his sister, Ruby, right?

She seemed like a cheerful girl.

Hmm... I'd have to ask Aqua about her next time.

----- Cassius POV -----

"Amethyst, I can't use magic in public. You know this."

"But Dad! I wanna go fast!" Amethyst whines.

"Sister... it goes fast enough, doesn't it?" Freya then says.

"No way! It's way too slow for me! But maybe I could go on the big one?" Amethyst proposes.

"You have to be as tall as Ruru to do that one alone. Maybe you can go on it if Papa goes with you though." Freya says before flipping onto her back and floating in the water.

Her words seem to convince my rambunctious child, though, as Amethyst then turns to me with the dreaded 'puppy eyes'.

"Pwease~?"

"Don't do that," I say, flicking her forehead.

"Why? Mama says that's how she makes you do anything she wants." Amethyst says with a pout, gently massaging her forehead.

Ai... just what are you teaching our children?

"Haa... fine. But just wait until your mom gets back," I say.

As if responding to me, a pair of echoing shouts come out from the tube before Ai and Ruby emerge, the former being held on her daughter's lap due to being smaller.

Heh.

I should've gotten a picture.

But ignoring her embarrassing position, the Ai right now was all smiles.

Her body was soaked with water, making her hair stick to her skin as her twin braids reached down toward her chest, which was wrapped tightly in a dark purple bikini.

...The saunas were private, right?

Because I had a feeling I was going to do some very immodest things in there.

"Wahoo! Wasn't that fun, Ruby?" Ai exclaims.

"Yeah! But the water gave me a bit of a wedgie," Ruby says while adjusting her pants.

"Hmm? But isn't that part of the fun though? Ah! Cas! There you are!"

Spotting me, Ai then wades toward me, her breaststroke effortlessly cutting through the water.

"Hmm? Where'd Aqua go?" She asks before clinging to my body.

Taking inspiration from her mother, Amethyst decides to do the same with my back.

It seemed I had been reduced to a human climbing wall, but this was nothing new.

"He's off with Kana getting some drinks," I respond.

"Oho? Is it something like 'that'?" Ai asks with mischief.

"No. At least I don't think so. You know how he is, after all," I respond with a shrug.

"Grr, that son of mine... So boring!" She says with a pout.

Umm, Ai.

I don't think you're supposed to talk about your children like that.

"Anyway, Amethyst wants me to take her on a slide. You mind watching Freya for a while?" I ask.

"Sure! Where is she?" Ai asks.

Looking over my shoulder, it seemed that Freya had been taken into the corner by the current, and seeing that she was still floating on her back without a care, she didn't seem to mind.

"There, I guess," I answer.

"I-I see... is she really okay?" Ai asks with some worry.

"...I think so. Freya! You good sweetie?" I ask.

She raises her hand and gives me a thumbs-up in response.

"Well, there you have it," I say to Ai with a shrug.

"Ah... yeah, I guess so. Anyway, you go take Amie down the slide a few times, and after~ Well, I have it booked for three, okay?" She says with a wink.

"Yes ma'am," I respond seriously.

Standing up, I reach back to secure Amethyst on my back before marching over to the stairs.

"Weee~!"

At least she was having fun.

"I'll take you down a few times, sweetie. After that, you can ask Ruby or Aqua to take you down," I say to her.

"Okay~! But where are you going after, Dad?" She asks.

"Umm... I'm getting a massage... yeah," I say.

"Cool!"

Yeah... a massage...

Well, it probably wasn't that far from the truth.

"Anyway, do you want to try the blue one, or the red one first?" I ask.

"Red!"

Well, there we have it.

And so, with my daughter strapped onto me like a backpack, I made my way to the red slide's platform.