Chapter 45 – Toward the Light

Fame did not arrive quietly.

It never did.

The drama Mother exploded the moment its final episode aired. Social media flooded with clips, quotes, screenshots of scenes people rewatched again and again. Critics praised the raw emotion. Viewers cried openly. Many said the mother and daughter on screen felt too real to be acting.

They were right.

Aiko Hoshizora and Mai changed everything.

Mai, once introduced under a borrowed name, became the youngest sensation the industry had seen in years. Directors lined up with scripts written just for her. Gentle roles. Brave roles. Funny roles. Children who carried pain and hope in equal measure. She learned her lines quickly, listened carefully, and treated every set like a playground mixed with a classroom.

She still held Yuji’s hand when she felt nervous.

She still ran into Aiko’s arms between takes.

But on screen, she shone.

Aiko watched her with quiet awe.

As for Aiko herself, the industry saw her reborn.

No longer just beautiful.

No longer just talented.

She became real.

Her performances deepened. Every tear carried memory. Every smile carried survival. Audiences connected to her in a way they never had before. Awards followed. Covers followed. Interviews followed. Soon, headlines began calling her what she had never chased.

Japan’s Number One Actress.

Aiko smiled politely at the title.

But at home, she laughed in loose clothes, cooked badly, and fought with Mai over bedtime.

Yuji watched it all from the doorway more than once, arms crossed, smiling to himself.

His own life had changed just as quietly, just as completely.

The shoe shop that once struggled to survive grew steadily. Orders increased. Word spread about quality, comfort, and honest craftsmanship. One big contract turned into five. Five turned into expansion. The shop became a brand. The brand became a company.

Yuji didn’t chase success.

He built it.

He still came home early when he could.

Still fixed Mai’s shoes himself.

Still waited for Aiko on the couch when her shoots ran late.

Their romance did not look like the dramas on television.

It was softer.

Morning coffee shared in silence.

Arguments over burnt toast.

Late nights when Aiko rested her head on Yuji’s shoulder, exhausted, while he brushed her hair gently without saying a word.

Sometimes paparazzi caught glimpses of them together. Headlines speculated. Fans argued online.

They never confirmed.

They never denied.

They simply lived.

Life, however, did not slow down.

One afternoon, outside a studio, the crowd surged.

Paparazzi pressed in from every direction. Cameras flashed like lightning. Voices shouted names.

“Aiko-san!”

“Mai-chan!”

“Look here!”

“Smile!”

Mai’s small hand tightened around Aiko’s sleeve. Aiko instinctively shielded her, but the noise grew louder, closer. Questions turned sharper. The moment felt too big, too fast.

Then a familiar hand reached through the chaos.

Yuji.

He didn’t raise his voice.

He didn’t push anyone.

He simply took Aiko’s hand, firm and steady, and with the other pulled Mai close to him.

“Now,” he said calmly.

They moved.

Through the noise. Through the lights. Through the confusion.

Yuji opened the car door, guided Mai inside first, then Aiko. Cameras flashed wildly as he slid into the driver’s seat.

The door shut.

The noise faded.

The engine started.

And suddenly, it was quiet.

Mai laughed, breathless. “Papa, that was like a movie!”

Yuji glanced at her in the mirror. “You’re not allowed to copy that stunt.”

Aiko laughed too, her hand still wrapped tightly around his.

As the car pulled away, city lights stretching ahead, Aiko leaned back and exhaled.

For a moment, she watched the road.

Then she turned to Yuji.

“Do you ever regret it?” she asked softly. “This life?”

Yuji thought for a second, then shook his head.

“No,” he said. “Because whatever waits ahead, we’re not running alone.”

Mai leaned forward between the seats. “We’re a team,” she declared proudly.

Aiko smiled and kissed her forehead.

Outside, the world moved fast.

Inside the car, time slowed.

They didn’t know exactly what the future would bring. More fame. More challenges. More moments where the world tried to pull them apart.

But they knew one thing.

They would face it together.

Hand in hand.

As the city lights grew brighter and the road stretched forward, Yuji drove on, steady and sure, carrying the two people who had turned his quiet life into something extraordinary.

Not toward perfection.

But toward happiness.

Toward home.

Toward a bright future that, at last, belonged to them.