“So, how does this look?”

  Ruby was texting Aqua, on a break during an acting gig elsewhere in town, another sarcastic reply over her phone when Chiyo shyly walked out of the changing room. She wore a simple outfit of a lengthy white skirt and a cute red blouse, plus her hair done in an adorable bun. It wasn’t outside of Chiyo’s usual fashion preferences, but now she was consciously dressing to impress Cobalt. Ruby nodded in approval. “You’re beautiful! Exactly Cobie’s type.”

  Chiyo’s blush intensified. “Alright. I’ll get these, then.”

  It wasn’t long until they left the register with their new clothes in their bags and ambled through the mall. Chiyo wasn’t as nervous as she was earlier in their outing, engaging more comfortably in conversation like she had done with Ruby before becoming Cobalt’s girlfriend. She really had no reason to be so timid. Her regular calm, kind self had clearly been what had caught Cobie’s eye, and what had compelled Ruby to push for them to get together. Was Ruby not making it clear enough that she was happy Chiyo was the one dating her little brother?

  Maybe Ruby was trying too hard. She only had one-on-one talks with Chiyo in short bursts between classes, aside from the preparatory interviews disguised as casual chats before the public confession. They were usually around more people when spending time together outside of school, whether it was on a shopping spree with the girls or working on Elemental Orel with the boys. Cobalt and Mama were able to concentrate their radiance of positivity at sufficient levels to not overwhelm others too much, but Ruby rarely had to pour her own energy to charm only a single person at a time. Idols were supposed to enrapture the masses, so maybe Chiyo didn’t know what to do with the unbridled support Ruby threw at her.

  Later, when she and Ruby were at a table in the food court with a couple smoothies in hand, Chiyo said, “Thank you again for coming out with me today.”

  “It’s no problem,” Ruby insisted. “What kind of person would I be if I ignored my future sister-in-law?”

  Yeah, maybe Ruby was laying it on a little too hard. Chiyo took a large gulp of her drink to cool down her flushed face. “You know we haven’t actually gone on our first date yet.”

  “He’ll be the one begging to take you out once he sees the gifts you got him.”

  Ruby only wanted to influence Cobalt’s first date to a point, not choreograph every single detail. She wasn’t sure what exactly they had planned for the weekend, but Chiyo’s new clothes and the gift for Cobie which Ruby had recommended should be enough to leave a good impression on him. He’ll want to go on more dates as soon as possible.

  In the other bag beside Chiyo’s feet were Cobalt’s presents bought from a couple of different shops in the mall: a novelty smoking pipe that blew out soapy bubbles, and an actual Sherlock Holmes hat to replace the jury-rigged piece Cobalt had stitched together from two separate baseball caps. For the murder mystery video on the channel earlier this year, Cobalt had wanted to experiment and film the introduction section in live-action instead of animating it. At the time, Cobalt had defended using his improvised hat and a lollipop instead of a real costume and pipe because the aesthetic already fit with the color palette and tone of the claymation. He was already in the process of scripting the sequel, so a little upgrade to the production value wouldn’t hurt.

  He’ll certainly appreciate the considerate presents from his loving girlfriend.

  “Why don’t you have a boyfriend yet, Ruby?” Chiyo asked in a blatant attempt to shift topics away from herself. “All this work prepping for my date with Orel could’ve gone into your own love life.”

  Ruby resisted a frown. “Are you really going to keep calling him that?” Folks in entertainment using their aliases in casual settings made perfect sense, but Ruby wasn’t sure if Cobalt making Chiyo call him by his YouTube handle was a sign of their closeness or just another weird tick of his.

  Chiyo shrugged. “He prefers it. I don’t mind.”

  An idea popped in Ruby’s head. “Then we have to figure out a nickname for you! You can start getting directly credited in Elemental Orel!”

  Embarrassed Chiyo showed her true colors once more. “We don’t need to go that far!”

  “How about ‘Mistress Marionette’? Since you did some of the puppet work in the murder mystery video!”

  A cute pout was summoned on Chiyo’s face – all natural, which was another point in her favor; her honest, outspoken spirit. “Just because I call him Orel doesn’t mean I want to butt in too much on his channel or anything.”

  “It’s not butting in. Call it expansion with his newest partner-in-crime!”

  “... I didn’t start dating him because he’s a famous YouTuber. I started dating him because he’s Cobalt, not because he’s Elemental Orel.”

  Ruby knew that. It was simply nice to hear Chiyo reaffirm it out loud.

  She teased Chiyo some more, promising not to make as big a fuss the next time they got together for the next animation session. Eventually, a ping from Chiyo’s phone gave her another excuse to distract herself from Ruby’s onslaught.

  Chiyo’s face fell into a look of shock as she stared at her phone screen. “Oh no.”

  “What is it?”

  Chiyo clenched her free fist and pressed it against her chest; a telltale sign of panic trickling through her veins. “Orel just sent me a text… but if he’s telling the truth…”

  Ruby stood up and walked around the table to read the message for herself.

  Not one to use shorthands over chat messages, Cobalt had written out, “I’m at a place called Tavern Shinon. They give free food today in 1 hour!” A minute later, the exact address was sent. Ruby wasn’t familiar with it.

  “What’s the issue?” she asked. Right next to Chiyo, Ruby could feel how her breathing and heartbeats were ramping up.

  “Tavern Shinon… People call it the Sin Club.”

  It sounded like something out of Elemental Orel. Shin was supposed to be in Tokyo this week, so Cobalt might be on some wild journey with him at the moment that will inevitably be adapted into another claymation. “And what’s so special about it? This Sin Club?”

  “That’s just the nickname. It’s a real bar and restaurant. And... “ Chiyo trembled before she got the answer out. “It's the same place where my dad started cheating on my mom.”

  Ruby blinked.

  Instincts took over. She didn’t suppress her frown this time, glowering at Chiyo. “You better not be thinking Cobalt’s also cheating on you.”

  She was surprised by her own hostility and quickly shook herself out of it. Ruby needed a clear head to appraise this new development. She’s never heard of a Tavern Shinon or a Sin Club before. Perhaps Cobalt really was with Shin on an escapade to –

  “Wait,” Chiyo said, derailing Ruby’s train of thought. Now Chiyo was looking at her with suspicion. “You’re not surprised that my dad is having an affair?”

  Oh, Ruby hadn’t meant to let that slip. “I mean, they’re getting a divorce, so it’s not that surpri–”

  “How do you know my parents are getting divorced?”

  Ruby had done her own investigation on Cobalt’s first girlfriend, of course, to see if there were any problematic skeletons in the closet. Ruby had deemed the divorce not too much of an issue to dissuade a romance from blooming, but she didn’t want to come off as weird or anything to her own family or to Chiyo. Although Aqua and mom knew that Ruby had put in work for securing Cobalt an acceptable girlfriend, no one knew the true extent of her work, least of all Cobie and Chiyo.

  If only Ruby had dug a little further to recognize the name of the tavern, or if only she hadn’t let her protective compulsions override the common sensibility to not expose her underhanded methods.

  “Cobie told me,” Ruby said to try salvaging her image.

  “He promised he wouldn’t tell anyone who goes to our school, including you and Aqua.”

  Drat. From Chiyo’s tone, she believed Ruby but was now shifting blame to Cobalt. “Uh – Why did you make him keep it a secret?”

  “I didn’t ask him to, at first. I told him about the divorce, and he offered to keep it a secret. He talked about how awkward it was to get asked about his dad from random strangers when he couldn’t give them any answers, so he promised me he wouldn’t let our classmates gossip about my parents divorcing.”

  “Well,” Ruby drawled to buy time to come up with a workable resolution to this mess, “Aqua and I also have experience in getting asked about our non-existent dad, too.”

  Chiyo was not appeased. “Orel promised me he wouldn’t tell anyone.”

  “You’re overthinking it. Cobalt would never intentionally lie to you.”

  “Orel could have asked me if he wanted to share my secret with you. I’d have even said yes, but he didn’t even bother. What else could he have tried finding loopholes around?” Chiyo looked back at her phone; no further messages sent from Cobie. “He’s even at the Sin Club right now. That’s where people go to break promises.”

  Okay, Ruby was not having that bitter tone directed at Cobie. She pulled her chair closer to Chiyo. Ruby made the girl look directly at her. “You know Cobie. You’ve the kinds of things he gets up to by accident. Last month, he stumbled into a Yakuza money laundering scheme.” And thank the local police officers Mama had schmoozed to keep the Hoshino family name out of the media during that fiasco. People online still theorized the Elemental Orel episode adapted from it was really based on that otherwise widely publicized news story. “Whatever he’s doing at this Sin Club, it’s probably just another misadventure he’s accidentally thrown himself in. Cobalt doesn’t break promises.”

  “I thought my dad would never break –”

  “Cobalt isn’t your dad.” And Cobie had a perfectly fine fatherly role model in Ichigo… who already divorced his wife, but the point was that Cobalt wasn’t a cheater!

  “I never told Orel about the Sin Club,” Chiyo shot back, the passionate soul Ruby had seen in her friend breaking even more out of her shell. “I only told him about the divorce, but it can’t be a coincidence that he’s at the same place where my dad started seeing some… some strumpet. Cobalt’s a good enough detective to have tracked down the place by himself.”

  “If Cobalt was cheating on you, why would he tell you that he was at this sinful tavern? Not that he’d ever cheat on you, but he’s also smart enough to not just out himself.”

  “My dad outed himself! He brought home a woman from the Sin Club home a few weeks ago. He wanted…” Chiyo clutcher her phone so hard that she could have started making cracks along the screen. “... to be with her and my mom, and my mom said no. They argued the entire night.”

  Ruby blinked again. “That’s…”

  The self-centered part of Ruby wished she had done a lot more research into Chiyo’s family situation. Then maybe she could have spared herself and Cobalt from this drama. However, the empathetic side of Ruby wished dearly she knew the words necessary to comfort and calm Chiyo. She was a nice girl and didn’t deserve to have her family torn apart like this.

  “What if Orel’s trying to do the same thing?”

  Ruby wanted to slap Chiyo, but she successfully held herself back. “That’s just crazy! Not all boys are sex-crazed freaks. Cobalt? You’d be crazy yourself to think that of him.”

  “Okay. Okay, maybe he doesn’t care about sex, but… He probably told you this already, but Orel still has issues with Miss Miyako and her ex-husband divorcing, too. We agreed to start dating to try to understand love better, and learn what it took to stay in a relationship.”

  Of course something like that would be in Cobie’s thought process on why to start dating. It really shouldn’t be bothering him anymore. Ichigo and Miyako were still running a successful talent agency, and they were legitimately happy without needing to be married anymore. It didn’t get any more complicated than that.

  “If he’s at the Sin Club,” Chiyo went on, “and he’s asking me to go there, then it’s like he’s speedrunning this relationship when we agreed we would take our time.”

  Ruby noted how Chiyo was hardly giving Cobie any benefit of the doubt. “Do you even like Cobalt in a romantic sense?”

  “That’s what we were going to find out!”

  The last yell started to attract the pair a few inquisitive onlookers.

  … Ruby supposed she should give Chiyo some slack. She was a kid, as was Cobie, without the benefit of an extra decade of life experience on her like Ruby. The two certainly liked each other, but to confidently say that they loved each other was a huge hurdle anyone would have trouble overcoming. It took Mama four years before she said it to her precious children, and only after that horrible stalker assault.

  “But what if Orel took it the wrong way?” Chiyo asked, not caring that people around them were blatantly eavesdropping. “He’s getting… too into character, trying to be like my dad when I asked him to be himself. Or – Or he’ll say he’s playing a character, and use that as an excuse!”

  “You’re paranoid.” Ruby took Chiyo’s hand, grabbed their bags, and pulled her out of the food court. A spry athlete, Chiyo kept her balance and matched Ruby’s stride without much trouble.

  “What are you doing?”

  “We’re going to this tavern, and you’ll see that Cobalt was being nothing but generous when he told you about the free food. Zero ill intent involved.”

  From the corner of her eye, Ruby saw Chiyo fuming in vexation. “My dad said he was inviting a friend for dinner when he ruined things with my mom and that harpy of his. Orel’s text was practically the same thing.”

  Again, Ruby held herself back from slapping her. She considered calling Cobalt outright, but with how intense and defiant Chiyo was now, she needed to see it to believe it. Looking up the club’s address in her own phone, Ruby said, “If I know Cobalt – and I know him far better than you – then he’ll have been roped into serving as a bartender at the place if anything, not trying to woo girls at the bar too old for him and taunting you about it.”

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  Something about Ruby’s voice must have finally made Chiyo shut up, since she didn’t give any more objections, letting Ruby lead her out of the mall and along her map’s directions.

  In time, they arrived in a neighborhood Ruby has been in a handful of times before. Admittedly, being here did start to fill Ruby with some worry for Cobie. It wasn’t a bad neighborhood per se, but it was an area where she’s had to corner a bully or two and adequately intimidate them from ever bothering her and her family ever again. Some of those bullies lived around here, and others happened to be walking in convenient places for Ruby to scare them straight. Unlike Ruby’s own neighborhood, police officers didn’t have a big presence in these parts.

  All the more reason to find Cobie as soon as possible and get Chiyo back on track for their… their date…

  They could see him now, down the street. Cobalt was standing by a taxi with… with a girl next to him. Maybe high school or college age. She was tall, looked young, and her attire was something that Ruby would have pegged as dress for the red light district.

  Cobie opened the door for the girl. When she stepped inside, she kissed him on the cheek before pulling him in along with her. The door shut closed in the same motion, and the car sped away.

  Chiyo pulled away from Ruby’s grip, crying out white noise that drizzled into nothing. Ruby barely paid attention to her. Ruby was too busy dialing Cobalt’s number.

  No answer. She called repeatedly as she waved down another cab, still getting no responses from him.

  Talk about planting a tracking chip on Cobalt when they were younger had started out as an unfunny joke, but Cobalt’s phone did have an app which allowed everyone in the family to locate him with their own mobile devices. Ruby used the app now to direct her cab driver.

  As always, Ruby kept on her person the compact taser, the pepper spray, and even the slim knife she secretly brought with her whenever not at school for excursions out of the house or the Strawberry office.

  Whoever was the harlot kidnapping Cobalt was going to wish she had never been born.

  By Cobalt’s estimate…

  No, he was still Orel. That’s the name Clay called him, the only name Ayane knew Cobalt Hoshino by. Cobalt is Orel, and there was nothing wrong with that.

  By Orel’s estimate, Ayane really liked hugs. She hadn’t let him go ever since they got in the taxi. When Orel’s phone started ringing and shaking, Ayane even took it out of his pocket and put it on silent before he could check it, making sure their hug wasn’t interrupted. Clay sometimes did that while in the middle of one of his wise lectures, keeping Orel focused until a life lesson’s message sunk in. Since Ayane came at Clay’s recommendation, Orel trusted her expert judgment for him to answer his phone later.

  Orel liked hugs, too… but Ayane was awfully clingy. The most clingy hugger Orel has ever been held by, in fact. He wasn’t sure if he should be complaining, or if that would be bad form for his considerate teacher. Ruby would just complain as she pleased. Aqua would know how to express disgruntlement with class and etiquette, but Orel would need to refer to his notes in his phone to try being like Aqua, and he wasn’t supposed to do that unless doing an acting job anyway.

  She kept holding him when they got out of the car in a neighborhood completely new to him. Because he didn’t know the area, Orel let Ayane keep him close, like when mom or aunt Miyako made him stick close when in a crowded amusement park. Although, aside from the busy street of crowded traffic they wandered away from, there weren’t many people around here. Orel wanted a little more freedom to move because of that, yet Ayane was hardly giving him much breathing room.

  Orel and Ayane were going through a small playground area when he spotted another pretty girl. She was relaxed on a swing. The seat suspended by bright chains rocked slightly as the girl wearing black clothes and a few metallic-looking piercings strummed the strings of an acoustic guitar.

  Hers and Orel’s eyes met. He gave a customary wave. The girl raised an eyebrow at him before looking at Ayane.

  “Hey there, Miyashita,” the girl in black cordially greeted.

  “Not now, Kamiya,” Ayane replied in the flippant, fast pace. “I’ve got business to attend to, regarding something you wouldn’t understand.”

  Unbothered by the dismissal, the girl in black returned her gaze to Orel. “Who’s the junior?”

  “None of your –”

  Orel couldn’t stop the words coming out of his mouth. “Hi there, miss! I’m Orel!”

  Miss Kamiya, as Ayane had named her, had her eyes light up in… recognition. “As in Elemental Orel?”

  “Wow! You recognize me?”

  “Yeah. I’m a fan.” She played a little tune on her guitar that was just like the auditory sting he implemented in one of his most successful videos. “That murder mystery musical was awesome.”

  She was a real fan! Orel had been worried he would first meet the “fake fans” Shin has occasionally talked about out in the wild. It looked like he’d been worried over nothing! “Thanks! My brother and sister and I worked very hard on that.”

  Miss Kamiya scanned Orel from top to bottom. “You’re shorter in person.”

  Ayane sighed dramatically and tightened her grip on Orel’s wrist. “Never mind that! I’ve had enough foreplay. Let’s go, Orel.”

  Reminded of the stricter teachers Orel’s had over the years, he forced himself to bury his excitement at meeting a real fan. “Oh, alright,” he said, unable to fully hide his disappointment. In response, Ayane caressed the side of his face again, running her hand through his hair.

  “Chin up, boy. Your world will never be the same after tonight.”

  She touched his scar again, making him uncomfortably shiver.

  Only mom and himself still consciously did that, and it was… weird for someone else to be doing it, too.

  “I think that’s a line more appropriate for your situation, Miyashita.”

  That was from Miss Kamiya again, who was hit by an unamused glare from Ayane. “What on earth are you talking about, Kamiya? Speaking of, since we’re still here, where’s my sister? I told her to take shelter in your apartment. She’s usually more clingy around you.”

  “Yeah, I was down for a last-minute babysitting sleepover.” Miss Kamiya put on a funny smile, like she was thinking about a joke, or maybe referring to an inside joke through her words to Ayane. “Didn’t work out for my dad, though, who called your dad.”

  Ayane’s entire body stiffened. “Excuse you?”

  “Him and your mom managed to find time off work and are actually home for once. Last I checked, they’re with your sister and waiting for you to come on up.”

  Ayane didn’t say anything for a short while. Then she sighed again, this time with an air of dismay. “Well, you were no help.”

  “Happy to be of service!”

  Sensing and seeing Ayane’s mood take a turn for the worse, Orel lightly pulled at her sleeve. “If your family is home, does this mean our lessons are canceled?” Clayman gave advice in general whenever Orel asked, but the serious life lessons were usually private affairs, not given when Orel’s family was around. That made the lessons all the more unique, special, and heartfelt compared to the lessons the other people in Orel’s life gave him.

  At Orel’s question, Ayane shoved him a couple feet away before sauntering off. “I don’t have time for you anymore, boy. Run along.”

  “But Clay said you’d –”

  “I couldn’t care less what Clay said. Just keep back.”

  Finally free from Ayane’s clingy hugs, Orel found himself not really wanting to go near her again. Still, Clay had paid her money in order to give Orel his lesson, so –

  “And I’m keeping the money! If Clay complains, he can bitch to his boyfriend about it.”

  Darn it!

  Ayane walked toward an apartment building right next to the playground. Orel stayed where he was and wondered what his next move should be.

  He should probably check his phone… but he came all the way here for a lesson on girlfriends and didn’t get one. Was there anyone else around who could help him?

  “Penny for your thoughts, Orel?”

  Miss Kamiya’s question was accompanied by a welcoming grin and another guitar strum. Ayane was a lot prettier than her, but Kamiya was definitely a lot nicer!

  Orel plopped down on the neighboring swing next to the pretty girl in black.

  “Pleasure to meet you in-person, shorty,” she said. “I’m Sachi Kamiya.”

  Matching her upbeat tempo, Orel replied, “The pleasure’s all mine!”

  Sachi hummed as she fiddled with her instrument. “I know your real name’s an open secret online at this point, but do you prefer me to call you that? Or Orel?”

  Everybody in real life already called him Cobalt or Cobie, except for Chiyo. “Orel’s good!”

  “Cool. So… how old are you?”

  “I’m thirteen-years-old!”

  Sachi nodded. “Alright. So, you’re both underage,” she mused quietly, “but we’ve still got legal and moral hiccups if you actually went up with Ayane.”

  “What hiccups?”

  She didn’t answer directly. “What did you think was going to happen when you went to her apartment?”

  “Ayane was going to teach me how to be a better boyfriend. I just got a girlfriend yesterday, and I could use all the help I can get to treat her right.”

  Sachi chuckled. “Really? Sorry to burst your bubble, kid, but Miyashita isn’t exactly the type to hold onto a boyfriend for longer than a week at most.”

  Orel gasped. “Whoa! I thought boyfriends and girlfriends lasted a lot longer than that! Sometimes even for years, leading into marriage!”

  “Yeah. If you were looking for tips on being happy with your girl, and making her happy long-term, Miyashita is one of the last people you’ll want to ask for advice.”

  That didn’t make sense. Ayane was endorsed by a reliable source. “But Clay said…”

  “Clay? As in Clayman Animations?”

  Orel’s smile returned. Sachi knew about Clayman, too! “Yeah! Are you also a fan of his?”

  Unfortunately, Sachi shot that idea down. “Not so much, no.”

  “Oh…”

  “Hey, don’t be so down, shorty.” She played a little jingle that did cheer up Orel’s spirit a smidge. “Everyone knows you admire him from all the collabs you do, but you can’t please everyone. The tone of his videos not vibing with me doesn’t make them bad videos. Different strokes for different people.”

  That was fair. Mom and Shin had taught Orel that early on in his YouTubing career. But, ignoring Sachi’s disinterest in Clayman Animations for now… “Clay said Ayane could teach me how to make Chiyo happier. Ayane has to have something useful she can teach me.”

  “Chiyo is the name of your girlfriend?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How well do you know Chiyo?”

  “Pretty well. I’ve known her since late in elementary school. I’m the only one at our middle school who knows about her parents’ divorce!”

  “… And she trusts you with this information.”

  “Yup!” Oh, Sachi might be misunderstanding. “You look like you’re in high school, so you knowing wouldn’t change things for Chiyo.”

  The guitarist played a calming ambient rhythm. “Alright, let’s take a step back. If I have your story straight, you and Chiyo started dating. Clayman introduced you to Ayane. Ayane was supposed to teach you how to be a better boyfriend.”

  “That sounds right!”

  “Okay. I don’t have much good experience with girlfriends, but if you’re willing, I’d like to give you some advice of my own.”

  Sachi has been very nice so far, and gave off a worldly attitude… similar to Aqua and Ruby, come to think of it; knowing more than what one might expect from someone so young. Maybe Sachi was a prodigy like Aqua! “Sure! Every little bit helps!”

  “You’ve already known Chiyo for two or three years, yeah? Being a boy-friend or girl-friend is different from being a friend-friend, but if you were already close beforehand, the transition from platonic to romantic can be smoother than you might expect. Overthinking can put on more strain and stress than either of you need compared to doing what comes naturally.”

  Yeah, Orel had thought going with the flow once he started dating Chiyo would work out. Yet Clay introduced him to Ayane and imparted his own advice on how to treat a girlfriend, so there must be merit to doing more prep work than what Sachi was suggesting. “I want my first romance to be good, and fair to Chiyo. The transition from romantic to… ambivalent, or hostile, or… no relationship at all… is not fun. Confusing. It’s better if I try to get ahead of the curve and avoid getting to that part of a romance altogether.”

  “You think your first relationship won’t take long to dissolve? Just like that?”

  Orel crossed his arms, the swing he was on drifting back and forth. “A lot of things about romantic love are confusing to me, and to Chiyo. How it starts, how it thrives, and how it ends. And the reasons why it all turns out the way it does. We agreed to start dating to learn about it together, but I also don’t want to screw things up with her. Clay was nice enough to get me a teacher to help me not screw up.”

  Sachi gave him a sympathetic smile. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but sometimes, you aren’t guaranteed smooth sailing or a happy ending in a romance, no matter how much work you put into it. Loving someone, whether giving it out or being loved, can hurt. Chances are, you’d have gone through more hurt than you were expecting if you actually went up with Miyashita and got back to Chiyo afterward.”

  She might have a point about Ayane. Those clingy hugs had started becoming more and more suffocating.

  Even so, Orel asserted again, “I have to try. I want to understand love. Miss Kamiya –”

  “Sachi.”

  “Sachi, you sound like you’re speaking from experience, even if not all of it was good.” Kinda like how drunk Clay from earlier was, too, except Sachi didn’t have the funky smell on her. “I don’t have any experience with romantic love. If Ayane can’t help me, then I need to ask Clay to find me another teacher to prepare me for my date this weekend.” Orel slammed his palm against his forehead, groaning. “Gosh, I should have started asking him these things sooner.”

  His family always encouraged him to ask questions. Aside from the “wait until you’re older” responses, they always had good answers. Orel had thought he was already on the right path when he asked Chiyo out, but now he wasn’t so sure.

  “... Let me ask you another thing,” Sachi said after a pause. “What precisely was the kind of advice Miyashita was going to give you?”

  “Exactly? As in the minute details?” Orel paused, thinking hard. “Well, I don't really know. That’s why I was with her: to find out!”

  Sachi hummed again, playing another few notes. “Okay. Orel, you’re obviously looking for ways to satisfy Chiyo romantically. Miyashita’s always more interested in satisfying herself sexually.”

  “There’s a difference? A mom and dad have to be romantically and sexually intimate in order to create kids.” The lectures given by mom, grandpa Ichigo, and aunt Miyako were very clear on that.

  “You don’t plan on being a dad soon, do you?” she asked playfully.

  “Golly, no! I promised my family I’d wait until I was older to do that!”

  “Then for now, you can focus purely on romantically wooing your girlfriend.”

  Orel’s frown grew more pronounced. “But then we go back to the original problem. I need a new teacher. I think you’ve actually been a very helpful teacher, or at least an advice-giver, Sachi, since Ayane had to leave, but I need something more.”

  Sachi shook her head. “No, I don’t think you do.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Anybody and everybody can give you as many life lessons as you ask for. None of the talk can mean much if you don’t start walking. I’ve known my share of folks longing for a little love but were too shy or unconfident to outright say it to the girl of their dreams. You’ve already got past that first step. Your girl told you yes, and from what you’ve said, she really trusts you. Getting lost in indecision and self-doubt after that is a helluva sure-fire way to crash the ship when you’ve barely gotten out of the harbor.

  “If you already scored your shot in getting a date with Chiyo, I say keep rolling with that momentum. Don’t get distracted by the hypotheticals or anecdotes people give you.” Sachi’s smile grew more sly. “Even my advice is just another outsider looking in on your business. You can take it or leave it. If you’re still willing to hear me out, my vote is on moving forward. You already had a date lined out for the weekend, didn’t you?”

  Orel slowly nodded. “I wanted to take her to a botanical garden. Nature is beautiful,” like the countryside Clay lived in, where mom gave birth to Orel and his siblings, “so I thought being in a beautiful environment would give us inspiration on how people naturally fall in love.”

  Sachi giggled. “That’s sweet. Why not keep working that angle? Why use getting advice from a random teacher as the crutch on making it a good date instead of living in the moment, experiencing the date with Chiyo?”

  Living in the moment… like how Orel lives and breathes as Aqua, Ruby, or the others he emulates when trying to act?

  Or… well, the simple answer was to be himself. Doing what came naturally to Cobalt Hoshino – to Orel. That was how he and Chiyo came to agree to start dating in the first place, moved by her story of her parents’ divorce and wanting to help her out given his own issues with the general topic.

  Yet Shin gave useful warnings about needing to keep Chiyo happy, to make sure she stays a good person… though he also said Orel was only as stupid as he let himself be. From what Sachi has said, was he making himself stupid by relying too much on other people’s advice? Aqua, while always willing to give useful tips, was especially becoming more insistent on Orel making his own decisions without consulting someone else first. Like choosing what TV shows and movies to audition for instead of only following Director Gotanda’s recommendations.

  “Your brain’s working overtime right now, ain’t it?” Sachi teased.

  It was, and Orel decided that he needed to speak directly to Chiyo and redefine the terms of their relationship.

  They had pledged to date in order to understand love. Now he felt the need to tell her how he wanted to understand her, and for her to understand him. Love… Romantic love still irked Orel. He might still screw it up…

  But Cobalt Hoshino undoubtedly cared more about being a good empathetic friend than toiling over worries about being the perfect boyfriend. If he can make Chiyo understand that, then maybe she’ll know she shouldn’t sacrifice her own peace of mind and wallow in nervous uncertainty like he has if they continued dating.

  They can just… do whatever comes naturally, no internalized acting or outside coaching necessary.

  “I know what I have to do now. Thanks for all your help, Miss Kamiya,” Cobalt expressed his sincere gratitude as he hopped off his swing. “You’re a great talker, and a great listener.”

  Sachi played one last musical chime on her guitar. “I try, shorty. Good luck with Chiyo, and for that anniversary video you teased on the channel.”

  With that, Cobalt and the first real-life fan of Elemental Orel he has personally met said their farewells. Cobalt faintly wondered if they would ever meet again.

  “Orel” needed to take a back seat for this. For as much as the name felt right to him, it was Cobalt Hoshino who needed to make things square with Chiyo Okazaki.

  Returning to the street, Cobalt waved down a cab car. As Cobalt got inside and told the driver where to go, he saw across the street another taxi pull over. The other car soon left and revealed, of all people, Ruby!

  She must have heard from Clay where Cobalt was going. Was Ruby looking for love advice from Ayane, too?

  Ruby was pacing along the sidewalk, looking at her phone. Traffic on Cobalt’s side of the street was keeping his taxi from leaving, so Cobalt lowered his window and waved, calling to his sister.

  Bringing her head up, Ruby looked sweaty and in a fit of panic, sort of like that time when the three triplets had been scrambling to get a Christmas present for grandpa Ichigo. Relief took over Ruby as her and Cobalt’s eyes met, just like when Cobalt had revealed the expensive gift he had already bought for grandpa.

  Ruby was starting to say something when Cobalt’s taxi got moving. Her voice got lost in the sound of traffic, and Cobalt soon lost sight of her.

  Cobalt fleetingly considered unsilencing his phone, but he decided not to. He needed to be one hundred percent focused on his mission. He can catch up with Ruby about his day later, once everyone was home for dinner.

  He hoped Chiyo would be willing to listen to him.

  Maybe getting flowers for her would help…