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ʏᴏᴜ sʜᴏᴡᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ ᴀ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪs sᴛʀᴏɴɢ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛᴏ ʙʀɪɴɢ sᴜɴ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋᴇsᴛ ᴅᴀʏs

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ᴀǫᴜᴀ ʜᴀᴅ ʙᴇᴇɴ studying about music videos recently. Now knowing more about it, the cost of it was starting to scare even him, and Miyako was the one dealing with the costs.

He tried taking his mind off of them by finally listening to Kana and going around auditioning for small roles. It wasn't as though he was putting his full effort into them, but it was enough to keep Kana happy.

When he wasn't studying editing and wasn't rehearsing, Aqua was watching The Beginning of an Idol. Ruby, who went purely by her stage name on the show, was getting a decent amount of screen time. It wasn't too much to make her outshine the rest, but it was enough for her a known member on the show, unlike poor Akane Kurokawa whose screen time mainly came from her interactions with Ruby.

Though, the screen time for Ruby mainly came from her disliking Melt. Several episodes had already come out, and fans were theorizing what could have made her dislike him, making the show take advantage of that by making them seem as if they had a mysterious past. Fans had decided it was fact they knew each other before, but what came after that was unknown. Was it because they were rivals in school? He was her bully? Did they use to date?

He couldn't remember if Ruby and Melt spent any actual time together during the filming of Today Will Be Sweet. Even if they did, they most likely didn't spend a lot of time talking to each other since Melt was still arrogant, though he seemed to cool down a lot now. He, however, never asked Ruby; he didn't want to invade her privacy, and she was too tired to talk anyway.

Since Ruby was so busy, Aqua took it upon himself to help plan the music video along with Miyako. He saw some people online saying she "didn't have a place in the show" due to technically not doing anything. Even Melt had Today Will Be Sweet as something he did. He wasn't letting his sister face any more backlash than necessary.

"What do you need for a music video?" he asked Miyako as he scanned over his notes. "You need the music, obviously, and also scenes, props, outfits..."

"Making a music video is harder than just the lyrics," Miyako said. "We don't have a storyboard yet, and we'll need to decide what kind of music video we're going for."

"What do you mean?"

"There are four types of music videos. Performance music videos are basic, someone performing a song. Narrative music videos are stories inside the music video, using the music to help. Concept videos are artistic expressions, using whatever you wish to make your music video with no rules. Finally, lyric videos are the easiest since the only thing showing are the lyrics. We could decide what type to do, but I think Ruby would appreciate it more if we let her choose."

If one thing was for certain, they were not doing a lyric video. Sarina was going to blow her audience away if Aqua had anything to do about it, and a lyric video wasn't going to do that unless they put a heavy amount of effort into it. Performance videos were the safest option, but it could be boring for viewers. A concept video might be a little tricky due to not having any set rules, so perhaps a narrative music video would fit best. Of course, that would mean giving a story to Sarina, and they didn't have that—though Ruby made it look like she had one on the show.

When he asked her about it all, Ruby said, "I don't even have a single lyric yet. Let's have a song before that's decided..."

She fell asleep after that, but Aqua still took what she said to heart. A song was the staple of the music video, so he needed to make her one.

. . .

"ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀʟᴋ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ everywhere with that notebook now," Kana said as she and Aqua took a walk around town. "What are you even writing in there?"

"Ideas for Ruby's music video." She had a dreamy aesthetic, so clouds were a must. If they played with light enough, they could make it even better. Maybe they could have either the beginning or end be Ruby laying and being surrounded by a fluffy cloud, light flashing the scene in or out, depending where it was.

Kana took a peek at his scribbled notes. "That's a lot of planning... The lyrics must be great, huh?"

"No, because I don't have lyrics." All of Aqua's ideas came from taking a walk outside, but his mind could only think of the scenes and not the lyrics.

"Why don't you just hire someone to make it for you?"

Aqua sighed. "Because we're already going to be spending a lot of money on the camera crew and renting spaces for the scenes. I want to help in any way I can, but I can't think of anything..."

Kana pulled out her phone. After a minute, she said, "The music should be something related to Lo-Fi since it gives off nostalgic vibes. Sarina gives off nostalgic vibes to people, especially when she sings B-Komachi songs, so there's something. You should also have a good melody. That's pretty 'dreamy', according to people online.

"Oh, and for whatever scenes you don't have, you can have daydreaming and stuff. Maybe interacting with bunnies in forests since bunnies are cute and, as long as the forest is pretty, it can be a pretty scene. There are a bunch of cute dresses too, but maybe you should have a pale colour." She showed him a long, pale yellow dress with soft designs.

He wrote everything she said and had her send the photo to him. "Anything else?"

"Uhh..." She bit her lip. "Are you okay with rock?"

"Probably not."

"Then that's all I can find."

"That's more than I had."

She shrugged. "We're actors, not writers. Anyway, you better hurry up with that music video. I'm not hanging out with you so you can obsess over what the scenes will look."

"I'll try my best." Aqua smiled. "Thank you for the help, Kana."

Kana blinked and looked away. "Y-Yeah, well... Put that notebook down so we can actually hang out."

Aqua decided to listen to her and put it away, gaining a smile from her. It was cute.

. . .

ᴍɪʏᴀᴋᴏ ᴡᴀs ɢᴏɪɴɢ through the plans for the scenes with Aqua. "We rented areas that we can alter to fit the song. Outfits are planned, and we have a dance Ruby planned. You're handling the editing, right?"

"I am," he confirmed. "The song is almost done. It just needs some editing here and there."

Kana and him worked together to create the song. Since this was the first music video, they decided to go with a concept video and see what the fans liked to see. It mainly consisted of Ruby, but there were short segments with drawings to give off a nostalgic style. They found an artist to deal with that.

"We should be about done with the planning, then." Miyako smiled, rubbing her eyes. "This is a lot more tiring than I remember..."

"I can handle everything. Just tell me what to do."

"I know you can, but you don't have to be Ruby's manager..."

"I can be her manager." Being an actor and an idol's manager at the same time shouldn't be that difficult, could it?

Miyako simply smiled and went back to the work they had ahead of them. "We should start promoting the music you have ready on social media. Getting people excited for a song is great, but we need to be careful not to promote it too much. People might get sick of it before it even comes out..."

"I can figure out a part in the song people might like."

Miyako sighed. "Thank you for the help, Aqua. You didn't have to do all this."

Aqua smiled back. Ai would be proud Ruby decided to become an idol like her, and it was his job to make sure it didn't become a disaster.