Hoshino Ai locked her children in the bedroom and blocked the only entrance with her own body, desperate to protect them at any cost.
The intruder was a man named Sugano Ryosuke, a fanatical admirer of Ai. However, his "love" for his idol had twisted into something dark; he couldn't accept the reality that she had children. In his mind, an idol had to be pure and untouchable. An idol belonged only to him.
Ryosuke's eyes were bloodshot and bulging as he lunged toward Ai. Terrified, she tried to force a small, nervous laugh to de-escalate the situation.
"Haha, you're a fan of mine, aren't you? Your name was... Nakasuke, right?"
"My name is Ryosuke!!"
"Ah, sorry, sorry! I remembered it wrong." Ai rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, sticking her tongue out slightly in her signature "cute" pose, hoping to break the tension.
Ryosuke took a sharp, jagged breath. "Enough! To you, I'm just an insignificant nobody anyway. If that's the case... let's go to hell together!!!"
"Even in hell, I'll keep supporting you and be your most loyal fan, Ai-chan!"
Ryosuke suddenly lunged forward, driving a knife deep into Ai's abdomen. She collapsed, but she used every ounce of her remaining strength to brace her body against the door behind her. That was where her children were.
Through the gaps in the door and the window, Aqua saw everything. He pounded on the wood frantically, but a six-year-old's body possessed no real power—especially with his mother barricading the door from the outside.
Hearing the commotion behind her, Ai spat out a mouthful of blood and signaled for her son to stay quiet. Unfortunately, her movement was noticed by the demonically possessed Ryosuke.
Ryosuke intended to kill the child as well. Ai turned her head, looking at Hoshino Aqua through the glass, whispering her final words.
"Ruby, Aqua... I love you. Only these words... are truly not a lie."
Ai braced her body against the door; she wouldn't budge even if it meant her death. Just as Ryosuke raised his knife to plunge it into her back, a gunshot rang out.
*BANG!*
The knife flew from Ryosuke's hand as his palm exploded in a spray of blood.
Before he could even turn to see the shooter, he felt a sharp pain in his neck; Ryunosuke had struck him with a precise hand-chop, knocking him unconscious instantly.
Where did he get a gun? The answer was simple. Ryunosuke had joined Chisato's Lycoris special agent unit and held a high degree of autonomy, which included a license to carry firearms. Technically, Lycoris only accepted girls, but Ryunosuke was an exception. Heaven only knows what Chisato was thinking at the time.
Ryunosuke pulled out a comprehensive medical kit, looking as though he had been fully prepared for this exact scenario. He had already alerted the authorities; the police were ten minutes away, and the ambulance was expected in five.
In truth, Ryunosuke could have prevented the stabbing from the start, but he had intentionally held back. He had calculated the possibility of Ryosuke seeking revenge after a short prison stint. If it were merely an attempted murder with no injuries, the sentence might only be three years. If Ai weren't hurt at all, Ryosuke would be free far too soon, and the Hoshino family would remain in danger.
So, Ryunosuke took a calculated risk to ensure the maximum legal penalty. With a weapon involved and a victim suffering life-threatening injuries to vital organs, the sentence for premeditated attempted murder could reach ten to twenty years, or even life. For a case this severe, a minimum of thirteen years was guaranteed.
But even that wasn't enough for him. Ryunosuke asked Chisato to use her connections to ensure this scoundrel received a life sentence so he would never walk free again. Chisato herself loathed people like this; while she didn't like to kill, she had no qualms about seeing someone like him rot behind bars.
Chisato agreed. Thus, Ryosuke would spend the rest of his life in prison, and Ai and her children would be safe forever.
Ryunosuke began bandaging Ai, who had passed out from blood loss. His methods were extreme, but he pulled the problem out by its roots. In this regard, he was much like Ayanokouji—though Ryunosuke possessed far more "unnecessary" emotions.
Feeling a bit clumsy and lacking medical expertise, Ryunosuke remembered that Aqua had been a doctor in his previous life. Without asking for Ai's permission, he pulled the boy out and told him to help treat his mother. Ryunosuke wasn't a doctor, so he needed the boy's skills.
However, the child looked completely paralyzed by fear and panic. An annoyed Ryunosuke promptly flicked him on the forehead, hard.
Aqua cried out in pain, rolling on the floor. Ryunosuke grabbed him by the collar and forced his face toward his mother's bleeding wound.
"I know you were a doctor in your past life. Now calm down and help your mother. If you keep stalling, she's really going to bleed out."
Aqua's focus returned instantly. He began to move with professional precision. He took the medical gauze and cleaned his mother's blood-soaked wound. His hands shook for a moment, but he gritted his teeth and continued sterilizing the area, crushing anti-inflammatory pills into a powder to slow the bleeding before applying a temporary pressure bandage.
Shortly after, the ambulance Ryunosuke had summoned arrived, taking Ai and her two children with them.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
At the hospital, after confirming his mother was stable, Aqua felt a wave of relief. He laid his sister, Ruby—who was exhausted from crying—into their mother's arms on the bed so they could sleep. Then, he turned to the man in front of him to ask the question burning in his mind.
"How do you know I was a doctor in my past life? Who exactly are you?" Aqua watched him with intense suspicion. Anyone would be panicked to have their secret identity exposed so abruptly.
Ryunosuke answered with a perfectly manufactured serious expression. "I am an emissary from Nebula M78. I heard your cries for help and was moved by your mother's courage in protecting you. I am giving you both these rings, which will allow you to transform into Ultraman Ace."
Ryunosuke pressed two plastic rings—which were clearly children's toys—into Aqua's hands, then looked toward the moon in the night sky.
"When the Ultra Star shines, it is time for you to unite. You only need to shout 'Ace!' and touch the two rings together, and you will become Gods in the new world!"
Aqua: "😐"
He suspected he was being toyed with, but he had no proof. (What is this... the situation is dire, but this guy gives me an answer like that...)
And that was how Ryunosuke successfully deflected Aqua's curiosity and ended the conversation.