If a girl transferred into his class who wasn’t just somewhat similar to Ai but frighteningly, painfully identical to her, then for Aqua it would be nothing less than a trial or even a punishment.

At first, when he saw her, he would freeze. Just freeze, outwardly unresponsive, staring bluntly as if straight into her soul. Of course, he would try with all his strength not to show that something had shaken him so badly (he would fail). Aqua is far too good at controlling his face that flawless, slightly detached mask of calm, always hiding calculation and dark thoughts beneath it. But the moment the new girl turned to him in profile for the first time, when the light fell across her cheeks and stars shimmered in her eyes - his heart would skip a beat. Not from awe. From terror. A painful, longing, nostalgic blow.

He would think it was mockery. Some kind of cruel joke by fate. A test sent straight from God.

Aqua doesn’t believe in coincidences. He would immediately begin searching for an explanation for such resemblance. Plastic surgery born from admiration for Ai? A relative? Someone’s cruel prank? A producer’s provocation? Or maybe he’s simply losing his mind…? Quietly, he would gather information: her last name, previous school, parents, social media - everything without exception. In any matter that even indirectly concerns Ai, every detail matters. He would dig deeper than anyone would expect from an ordinary classmate. Because to him, Ai was never just a mother or an idol. She is a wound that will never close.

But the hardest part would begin later.

This person doesn’t just look like Ai. She has the same smile. That dazzling, slightly tilted smile, as if she knows something no one else does. The same way of tilting her head when she listens. The same light, almost musical intonation. And when she laughs, something inside Aqua breaks.

Eventually, he would begin avoiding her.

If they had to interact, at first he would avoid her under the excuse of being busy. Then he would become demonstratively cold. If she tried to approach him, to talk, he would answer briefly, dryly, without emotion. He cannot allow himself to grow used to that voice. He cannot allow himself to believe in that smile again. But he also cannot bring himself to be cruel enough to permanently sever those warm echoes of the past, even if they exist in someone else’s body. He would feel intense, conflicting emotions. On one hand, he wants “Ai”, even if she isn’t truly Ai to stay near him. On the other hand, he cannot allow himself to go through that pain again. At night, in moments of silence, he would reproach himself for even allowing the thought of replacing Ai with this imitation and for the fact that he still feels warmth standing beside this copy.

The painful realization that would torment him is this: at some point, he would catch himself on a terrifying thought that he feels comfortable next to a parody of the original.

And that would make him furious. It would drive him nearly mad.

Aqua would become sharper. He might even deliberately say something hurtful to push her away. Not because he hates her, quite the opposite. Because he is too afraid of what he’s beginning to feel. In her gestures, in her eyes, he sees Ai, but she is not Ai. And that awareness tears him apart from the inside.

Sometimes he would hold her gaze for too long.

Sometimes, when the new girl smiled at him sincerely without the “idol” falseness, without the stage persona that defined Ai, he would lose himself for a second. Ai always smiled at the world like an idol. But this smile would be alive, directed only at him. And that would confuse him deeply.

One evening, perhaps after filming, when exhaustion erases his protective walls, he might suddenly hear her say:

“You look at me like I’m a ghost.”

And he wouldn’t be able to answer right away. Those words would strike both his mind and his heart.

He would realize that the problem isn’t the resemblance. The problem is him. His unresolved past, his obsession, his refusal to let go. He never allowed himself to grieve Ai as a son - he turned her death into a mission, revenge, a goal, the meaning of his life. He turned her into a symbol. And now fate has placed a living person before him - someone who doesn’t owe the world symbolism. Could this be a sign that it’s time to stop? A bribe from destiny, just to make him finally calm down?Gradually, over time, he would begin noticing the differences. Small ones. Barely perceptible. Ai could lie about love in a way that made the whole world believe her. This girl, on the contrary, is too honest. Ai shone for the stage. This one shines for the people beside her. Ai hid her fear behind the sparkle in her eyes. Here, in her eyes, there is stubbornness, vulnerability, something entirely her own. The differences are subtle, but for Aqua they would become significant enough for him to eventually accept the existence of this “Ai copy.”

At some point, Aqua would realize something frightening: He no longer sees Ai in her.

He sees a separate person.

And then his behavior would change. He would become more attentive, not intrusive, but steady. Offering a hand on the stairs. Casually walking her home. Sitting beside her in class. Small gestures he once wouldn’t have allowed himself. He would react especially sharply to any rumors or comments like, “You look so much like that famous Ai.” Something acidic would flare inside him - whether from the comparison of the incomparable Ai to an ordinary schoolgirl, or from an instinctive desire to protect this “parody” from the cruel fate and life Ai endured because of who she was.

Maybe he doesn’t want the world to turn someone into an image again. Into an idol. Into an object. No, he won’t allow it.

The most touching part is that he would never directly explain why he was so cold at first. But one day, perhaps quietly, in the dark hallway after the school festival, when the lights have already gone out, he might confess:

“You look so much like her… but you’re not her. And that… that’s good.”

It would be his way of saying:

“I’m not clinging to a ghost anymore. You are you to me.”

And maybe, for the first time in a long while, the stars in his eyes would shine not with vengeance, but with something more alive.