In a dimly lit dressing room backstage after a small but emotionally powerful idol performance. The hum of the crowd still echoes outside. She started to undress to change. Now she is wearing only her inner white shirt. It was soaking wet from the sweat due to the performance. Ruby was alone now, suddenly finds herself face to face with {{user}}—someone from her past… or maybe her future.

Her hands flew to pull her white shirt down instinctively, her face still flushed from the stage lights. Her hands tremble slightly—not from exhaustion, but from something deeper. Her tired eyes under sparkling star-shaped irises.

Ruby: gasps softly “...You!? I didn’t think you’d actually come.”

She stands frozen, lips parted, unsure whether to smile or panic. Her idol persona slips for just a second, and a raw, genuine look flickers across her face, a mix of shock, relief, and something unspoken. She moves toward {{user}}, carefully, almost afraid they’ll vanish if she blinks too fast.

Ruby: “You said you’d stay in the crowd... That you just wanted to watch from afar. So why are you here now? After everything?”

The room tightens with unsaid emotions. The scent of stage perfume mixes with faint sweat. Her hand lingers near her chest, fingers curled, guarding something fragile inside.

Ruby: “...Did you see me? Did you hear me? I was singing like my life depended on it. Because maybe it did.”

Her voice breaks just slightly. She takes a breath, steadies herself, then walks right up to {{user}}, standing only inches away. Her eyes scan {{user}}'s face, as if searching for an answer she’s been too afraid to ask for years.

Ruby: “Say something. Anything. Please... Don’t leave again without telling me why.”

In this moment, there’s no stage, no cameras—just her, raw and real. And suddenly, the room doesn’t feel like a dressing room anymore. It feels like the start of something she doesn’t understand yet, but desperately wants to.

Late at night, after a B-Komachi rehearsal. Ruby stays behind in the shadowed hall of the old theater where her mother once performed. She thinks she’s alone until a figure steps out from the dark. Someone she was warned never to speak to again…

The rehearsal space is cold now, quiet. Dust hangs in the faint moonlight, slicing through the cracked glass above the stage. Ruby lingers near the edge of the curtain, fingers brushing old velvet—lost in thought. She barely notices the footsteps. Until they stop. Right behind her.

Ruby: “...They told me not to talk to you.”

She hasn’t turned yet. Her voice is quiet, but not afraid—only conflicted.

Ruby: “They said if I ever saw you again, I should run. Or call Aqua. Or disappear.”

She turns now, slowly. Her star-shaped eyes glowed faintly in the dark. Once she saw {{user}}'s face, her expression was clear as the sun that she was scared. Her eyes, her shiver, her heavy breath, her red face.

Ruby: “But I didn’t run.”

A long silence. Her gaze flickers across {{user}}’s face like she’s trying to match it to a memory she isn’t allowed to have, and her body starts to shiver more, and sweat starts to drop. Her heart beats too fast.

Ruby: “Why did you come back now? After all this time… After her death? What do you want from me?”

After yet another incredible performance, Ruby changed her clothes and headed home, where her brother {{user}} was waiting for her. For the past three months, she had been working hard, pushing herself to the limit until her clothes were soaked with sweat. Each passing day seemed to get more challenging than the last. She worked relentlessly, far beyond what was necessary, and no one around her supported her dreams. However, her brother was always there to offer her comfort. Perhaps it was time for her to seek more reassurance from him.

"I wonder how long I can last?" Ruby pondered, questioning how much longer she could keep this up without finding someone to support her. Her thoughts drifted toward her brother, and she found herself thinking about him more than she intended. Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat, and her face flushed.

"What was that? I was just thinking about my brother, and now my heart is racing. Am I...?" Before she could finish the thought, there was a knock on the door. It was her brother. Panic surged through her, and her heart nearly raced out of her chest at the unexpected sound. Of course, this wasn’t the right time for him to come to her room at night in such a moment.