Oshi no Ko - Redux

DISCLAIMER: Just in case; this is a friendly reminder that all characters will be aged appropriately to at least 18+. Another reminder that there will inevitably be spoilers from future chapters of the manga; so, even if this will be an incredibl altered timeline, just keep this in mind.

"Woah..." Was all I could say, eyes wide open with a mixture of awe and shock. It was certainly a strange experience right now, 'One moment I was just relaxing in my own world, in my own house, and in my own living room no less... yet... now I'm here...' I thought to myself as I lifted my hands, transparent as they are as was my whole body, up to my face just to confirm that I, in fact, am a "ghost" of some kind, a "ghost" capable of a lot of different things. Though, with that in mind, I looked at my current surroundings.

"Let's see... there's a floor..." With my transparent foot, I gave the ground a few loving stomps, "Huh, I wonder how this works...? I can interact with the ground and, presumably, other material things, but I wonder how that works... Oh well, this line of thinking will drain what little brain power I got..." I sighed as I walked around, just to make sure I won't randomly fall through the ground and into the Earth itself. After confirming it, I nodded approvingly before deciding to float instead of walk, "Yep, I'm gonna assume it's some sort of subconscious mumbo jumbo that allow me to do these feats without having to actively maintain it or even be aware of it..." That is what I chalked it all up to. "Alright, enough messing around... Considering I appear to be at the apartment building instead of the hospital... there had to be something stopping me from going back further... Damn... I was hoping to stop the bastard from the get-go but since it's come to this..." I trailed off, my blood beginning to boil in anger before forcing myself to calm down.

"...Now this is interesting...~" A childish voice graced my ears and I quickly turned around, coming face to face with a young child, though I knew better than to trust my eyes at who or even what I was looking at. "...You don't seem to be from here...?" She tilted her head.

"...Well, I guess I can't lie my way out of this one, eh...?" I shrugged nonchalantly as I faced the speaker, "But no, I'm not..." Might as well tell the truth in the hopes that this entity, assuming she's more powerful than I am, would be kind enough to let me proceed with what I have planned. "I came here to... well, to put it simply, have fun. And... well... maybe change things up a bit... considering what I know to be true of this world..." I stated my goals plainly, putting an amused smile onto the young girl's face.

"Is that so...?" She wondered aloud, simply staring straight into my eyes for a few moments before seemingly giving up, "...Hmm... I simply can't get a read on you...~ Whatever the case, very well, do as you please." The young girl, now surrounded by crows, shrugged as she turned around.

"...Phew..." An unexpected breath of relief exhaled itself from my mouth. "...Thank you..." I gave the girl a grateful bow.

"Huhuhu..." She let out a giggle, "Ah, but, assuming I know what you're going to do... let me warn you that you're on the wrong floor... the event will be taking place on the floor above in about... a few seconds, good luck~" With that, the young girl disappeared.

"Oh, uh, thank- aaaannd she's gone... what a weird character..." I shook my head before my eyes widened to the size of plates as I registered what she said just then. "WAIT, WHAT?!?!?!" Without even thinking, faster than I ever thought I could move, I flew straight up to the next floor, just in time to see the second most disgraceful human being I've gotten the displeasure of knowing in this series, Oshi no Ko, at a distance, knocking at an apartment door with flowers and knife in hand.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" I screeched wildly as the apartment door opened and there she was, Hoshino Ai, the rising star/idol murdered by a crazed fan at the cusp of becoming 20, looking at her soon-to-be killer with eyes full of curiosity and confusion. "STOP!!! DON'T!!!!!!!" I blasted forward blindly, intending to stop this tragedy. "I've seen it once, I REFUSE TO SEE IT AGAIN!!!" Then everything went black for just a moment.

"...Huh...?" I blinked, confusion and a rush of emotions washing over me as my currently hazy vision was quickly clearing up. "What...?" I stopped immediately, the volume of my voice, as well the tone... Not only was it higher... it sounded, feminine? "What's... where...?" I could feel my heart beating, only it didn't feel like my actual heart, actually, nothing felt like my body, yet at the same time, it did. "Who...?" My eyes traveled down, "These... aren't my...-?!?!?!" My questions rapidly disappeared as I remembered the situation I was in and looked down at the floor outside of Ai's apartment.

"Auugh..." A hooded man lay on the ground, groaning, but he was quickly regaining consciousness and would most certainly be back to stab Ai and end her life... well... if my inner suspicions were right, then it's not just her life that would be ended, mine as well... albeit temporarily for me, I'd imagine... hopefully. "Ugh... wha...?" Unfortunately, the knife was gripped firmly by his hand so I couldn't grab it.

"Mama...?" I heard two voices behind me and suddenly my... no... Ai's motherly instincts, as well as my own survival instincts took over and I slammed the door while simultaneously locking it, banging and yelling was soon heard on the other side.

"A-Aqua!!!" There was no longer any question or hesitation, I need to act now to prevent the worst-case scenario, "Hurry! Call the police, and take your sister to the bedroom and LOCK IT!!! Please!!!" I could hear the erratic man begin barging at the door repeatedly, hearing the door actually starting to strain from the constant strikes and charges.

"But-" The reincarnated doctor was about to argue, but I stopped him right there. Now's not the time.

"Aqua, please!! J-Just listen to Mama!!" I sternly and desperately shouted at him. My mind was all over the place as I struggled to think at all, everything was confusing after all. Thankfully, after that, Aqua listened and promptly took Ruby by the hand and locked themselves into their bedroom while hopefully calling the police at the same time. "Stupid adrenaline-fueled person, stupid insane person, stupid situation, stupid everything!!!!" I cursed through gritted teeth while running over to the kitchen and grabbing a kitchen knife, "Two can play at this game..." I huffed out as I shut the next door to the living room, luckily as I heard the crazy person break down the entrance door. "Damn... he's persistent..." I noted as I took the time to push the couch up against the door, since obviously, he was now slamming into that door and shouting profanities.

"YOU FUCKING WHORE!!!! HOW DARE YOU HAVE KIDS!!!! I TRUSTED YOU!!!!! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!?!?!?!?" The man behind the door screamed his rotten heart out as the banging intensified to an understandably destructive degree.

"God damn dude..." I cringed softly as I gulped, "...I didn't realize people could get THIS crazy over idols... but I suppose all kinds of people tune in... outliers like this guy are definitely in the minority... one would hope..." I looked concernedly at the next door I would need to run through, close, and lock.

Suddenly, glass shards then sprinkled all over the couch as I could see the crazy individual peeking through the holes of the now broken parts of the living room door, trying unsuccessfully to unlock said door from the other side, shoving his arm through the cracks. "GRAAAHHHH, I'LL KILL YOU!!!! YOU LYING PIECE OF TRASH!!!!"

"...Idols have it rough, huh...?" I whispered to myself quietly as I pursed my lips and myself to calm down before deciding to take a risk. I can't say I was a good fighter at all; the only "fights" I've ever been in were verbal or online, still, I had a chance to deal some damage and I wasn't going to waste it. I rushed forward, and, with my own knife in hand, plunged it straight into the guy's forearm before pulling the inserted knife towards me.

"F-FUCCCKKKK-AGHHHHHH!!!!!!!" The intruder yelled at a volume I never knew a human could reach, then again, I never felt what's it like to have a knife running length-wise through your arm. Blood splurted everywhere as I figured that the blade would cut through arteries and veins on its way out. Of course, the sight of all that blood almost made me vomit outright; the smell of iron, the sight of red staining the walls, floors, ceiling, and me, the sounds of flesh scraping against steel, everything about this was pure insanity, it's a wonder if I'll manage to make it out of here without some form of severe trauma and PTSD, the same goes for my... Ai's kids... though thankfully to a lesser extent... they won't have to witness this... bloody mess, if they listened and only stay in their room.

*Huff Huff Huff* I gasped heavily, my eyes dilating and darting everywhere as the knife finally came off the man's arm. I watched intently and silently as he screamed bloody , but his voice started dying down, most likely due to the incredible amounts of blood he was losing. He weakly pulled his arm back through the door, now silent but gasping for his own breath. *Step Step Step* I could hear him walking away from the door, he probably realized how fatal his injury was and wanted to get away and get help... except... he collapsed not too long after, making it to the entrance of the doorway where this encounter all began. I just stared at him, I think the shock was finally getting to me, but I could hear sirens in the distance as well as the screams of who I assumed to be my...Ai's...neighbors...Ai's...my...neighbors...my... neighbors... It was at this point that I believe I ended up fainting, the stress, the relief, the adrenaline, all simply vanished as did my strength and everything went black.