Chapter 45: MV on the Air
Out in the suburbs of Miyazaki Prefecture, a modern, standalone Japanese house stood quietly in the night. The home featured a sleek, minimalist design–white painted exterior walls paired with dark wooden trim–while massive floor-to-ceiling windows let out a warm, inviting glow.
Norika Takegawa sat cross-legged on the carpet of her second-floor bedroom, her bare feet curling slightly in the cool breeze from the air conditioner. Wearing a simple cotton pajama set with her auburn short hair soft under the warm yellow lights, she stared intently at the wall-mounted LCD television in front of her.
On screen, the TBS Friday Drama network block was currently broadcasting the first episode of the new series, Unnatural.
As time ticked away, the premiere quickly built up to its climax.
An autopsy light flickered violently. Suddenly, the corpse, which was supposed to be completely ice-cold, slowly sat upright.
The female doctor froze on the spot. The man who had just sat up let out a low, lazy chuckle, his tone dripping with mockery. "You seriously think this place can be saved? Heh... In a society built on top of a mountain of rotten flesh, consider yourself lucky."
Right on cue, the theme song seamlessly faded in.
"Even the sadness of that day, even the pain of that day, I loved every single bit of it..."
Accompanied by the deep, magnetic vocals acting as the background track, the first episode slowly ground to a halt.
Norika couldn't help but blink back tears, deeply moved by the ending. She thought the show was incredibly well-made–without a doubt, another premium television production.
*This is awesome,* she thought. *I've got something great to look forward to for the next few months.*
*Wait a minute... that voice...*
She suddenly sat up straight, listening intently to the vocals during the ending credits. That distinct vocal texture, along with that faint trace of melancholy...
"That sounds exactly like Hikari!"
Ever since the summer festival, Norika had become a massive fan of Hikari and Ai, routinely keeping up with their updates. She quickly snatched her phone and tapped into Hikari's official channel on her subscription list.
Sure enough, Hikari had posted a teaser announcement a few days prior:
[Important Notice]: I am deeply honored to perform the theme song for the new TBS drama, 'Unnatural.' This is a song dedicated to the departed. Thank you to all the friends who have supported me, and please show lots of love to this amazing series.*
And just a few hours ago, a brand new upload had dropped on the account, making Norika's eyes light up.
[Hikari - Lemon Official Music Video]
She clicked on the video without a moment's hesitation.
Meanwhile, in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, a few hours earlier.
Ai leaned back comfortably against the beige fabric sofa in the living room. A tablet sat on the coffee table, with Aqua and Ruby peering over her shoulders from behind.
Ai turned to the two with immense excitement. "Hikaru just dropped the MV for his new song! I actually star in it too!"
Ruby immediately voiced her support like she always did. "Quick, let me see! I'm saving every single frame with Mom in it!"
Ai tapped the video, switching the screen to full display.
The instant the playback started, Hikaru's familiar voice drifted through the speakers.
"If it were all just a dream, how wonderful that would be..."
The opening scene revealed a modern hospital ward. The blue, white, and grey color palette had been deliberately muted into a hazy grey tone, casting a heavy, suffocating atmosphere over the room. An IV stand stood beside the bed, which was made so neatly it barely had a single wrinkle. The window was half-open, letting a gentle breeze rustle the white curtains.
Ai was dressed in a long white gown, looking pure and spotless, but the hem of her dress was stained a shocking, vivid crimson that looked disturbingly like blood. Holding a single white rose, she was initially slumping over the edge of the hospital bed. As the music picked up, she slowly pushed herself up and climbed out of bed.
*A hospital ward...* Watching the familiar setting, Ruby couldn't help but recall some pretty unpleasant memories.
To Sarina, a hospital ward was essentially her home. She had lived in one for a very, very long time, yet she didn't hold a single ounce of nostalgia for it.
Still, she didn't say a word, quietly watching the MV continue to play.
"You still show up in my dreams, like retrieving something I left behind..."
As the song progressed, Ai slowly stood up straight and began her dance. But the choreography looked rather bizarre–almost like a patient undergoing physical therapy, with her movements awkwardly stumbling and weaving.
The scene then suddenly cut to a shot of Hikaru. Standing directly beneath a torii gate, he sang straight into the camera lens with a large crowd gathered behind him.
The frame transitioned back to the hospital room. Ai continued her solo dance, her white dress looking exceptionally jarring against the gloomy lighting.
The cinematography began rapidly cutting back and forth between Ai in the ward and Hikaru delivering his vocals. Ai's dancing synchronized perfectly with the rhythm of Hikaru's voice. At that exact moment, the surrounding crowd raised their hands in unison, clasping them over their chests and lowering their heads in a silent prayer.
In the next sequence, Ai suddenly materialized beneath a massive crimson torii gate, continuing her performance.
Meanwhile, Hikaru stood a short distance away with a crowd in front of the shrine, quietly watching Ai dance.
"The dark past hidden in my heart, without you, will remain dark forever..."
"I know that nothing could ever be..."
"More painful than this."
Suddenly, Ai stopped dancing. Clasping her hands over her head, she bent her body downward. Her face contorted in immense agony, as if she were being tortured by some invisible force. The surrounding crowd stared on quietly; not a single person reached out to help.
Ai stood back up and began dancing in a circle around the onlookers. Her movements grew significantly smoother, as if she had finally found her rhythm. She moved fluidly while dancing, charting a perfect circle around the perimeter of the crowd.
The trajectory of her dance ultimately brought her right in front of Hikaru. Looking at Ai right before him, Hikaru remained completely unfazed, continuing his performance.
"Even the sadness of that day, even the pain of that day..."
"I loved every single bit of it. Along with you, it remains trapped in my heart, impossible to wash away."
"The bitter scent of lemon won't leave until the heavy rain stops..."
"To this day, you are still my light."
"This MV feels kind of weird," Ruby couldn't help but speak up. "The lyrics are pretty strange too. What is the actual theme here?"
"The notice said it's a song dedicated to the departed, so the theme should be about honoring someone who died," Aqua analyzed calmly. "The filming style is highly artistic. My guess is this is Director Gotanda's work."
"It was shot by the director!" Ai nodded.
Ruby complained, "If something is too artistic, regular people won't understand it!"
"Director Gotanda's framing is indeed very artistic, sometimes to the point where it flies over people's heads," Aqua chose to defend the filmmaker. "But that's usually a viewer issue. You should probably work on your cultural literacy."
"Hey!" Ruby snapped in annoyance. "He's obviously just being way too pretentious as a director and losing touch with his audience!"
"Alright, alright, don't fight," Ai pulled the twins into her arms. "Let's finish watching first."
As the song transitioned into the second verse, a coffin materialized on screen. Hikaru stood with the crowd, completely surrounding it.
Ai appeared right on top of the coffin lid, continuing her Kagura dance to the beat of the music.
"What are you doing, what are you looking at..."
"With an expression that is completely foreign to me."
The track immediately launched into its next climax.
Hikaru stared deeply at Ai, his expression solemn and heavy with grief–carrying a mix of nostalgia, loneliness, and absolute, dead-eyed despair.
"If you are also out there somewhere right now, shedding tears and trapped in loneliness just like me..."
"Then please, forget everything about me."
"I wish for this from the bottom of my heart. To this day, you are still my light."
"His acting has improved," Aqua evaluated objectively. "According to Director Gotanda, his performance during the movie audition was terrible. But looking at this, he's at least hit a passing standard."
"Well, Hikaru used to be the star actor of his theater troupe, after all," Ai let slip.
Aqua nodded. He knew the general bullet points of Hikaru's past, since you could look it up directly on search engines. There really was a massive divide between his personality before and after the amnesia.
"He did do a really good job," Ruby said, collapsing onto the sofa and propping her head up on her tiny arms. "For a split second there, I almost didn't recognize him."
"Because his acting was strong enough to completely detach him from his usual self?" Aqua asked.
"No," Ruby shook her head. "I just straight-up saw him as a grown-up version of you."
She poked her tongue out. "I mean, I've always viewed him purely as a singer, while you're the actual actor in the family. So for a second, my brain just crossed the lines."
Which was exactly the dark humor Hikaru had tucked away behind the music video.
He didn't actually have anyone he wanted to mourn. But looking at his own reflection in the dark computer screen during production, a sudden burst of inspiration hit him, and he thought of the original Aqua.
If it were a grown-up version of *that* Aqua... wouldn't the whole thing make perfect sense? The MV's setting would line up flawlessly, connecting every single piece of the narrative.
So, the character Hikaru was playing was actually the original version of Aqua, while Ai was playing her deceased self from the original timeline.
Tsukuyomi had been drawn in by this exact subtext, which was why she volunteered to participate. To her, possessing fragments of future knowledge, this music video carried immense meaning–it represented the reality of a completely different world line.
A future where Hikaru Hoshino had never appeared.
She genuinely thanked Hikaru for changing the script.
Because...
"A future like that would have sucked."
She sighed softly, the words coming straight from her heart.
---
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