Chapter 51

## Inquiry

**Inquiry**「考察, *Kōsatsu*?」 is the fifty-first chapter of the *Oshi no Ko* manga series. It is written by Aka Akasaka and illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari. It was released in *Weekly Young Jump* on July 29, 2021.

## Summary

Aqua Hoshino is still reeling over his sudden memories of Ai Hoshino's final moments, and asked to be excused from the rehearsals. The other casts wonders aloud about his condition. One of the casts nudged Akane Kurokawa, his supposed girlfriend, to be by his side, whilst Kana looked on. Akane gave aqua some water and checked on him, noting how pale he is. She asked him to lie down while she calls his family, but Aqua interrupted her, not wanting Ruby to know and be reminded about this, as he feels like she already moved on from their shared tragedy. Akane still thinks that he should be picked up by someone, and Aqua refers her to Taishi Gotanda instead.

Taishi was not pleased, lamenting that he's not Aqua's father, but took him in anyway. He nonchalantly asked if Akane is Aqua's girlfriend, and was shocked when she nods silently. Taishi then thought about Kana, implying that he thought Kana was Aqua's girlfriend, but he brushes it off and wondered aloud about how Aqua do things behind his back as well. Akane apologizes for coming to the place uninvited, but Taishi waves her off, saying that he's the only one who knows about Aqua's "situation", and how this is not the first time Aqua has such reaction to his past.

Taishi then relays the story to Akane, saying that Aqua was involved in an "accident" a long time ago, and he has trouble remembering his past. He received psychological counseling before, but he lied and said that he has fully recovered so that he doesn't worry his family. Taishi ends the story by saying that even he himself still can't forget it, yet alone Aqua, and asked Akane to watch Aqua as he returns to his work.

Meanwhile, in his sleep, Aqua remembers the detail of Ai's death, the scent of rust from her blood, and the warmth of her body slowly being replaced by coldness. An apparition of a man wearing square rimmed glasses admonishes him. Akane watched over Aqua, and heard him mutter the name "Ai". She then remembers the idol that Aqua admires having the same name who died years ago, and how both Aqua and his sister Ruby Hoshino belongs to the same agency. She goes even further and notes how Ruby is now a part of the revived group B-Komachi, noting how both siblings have strong attachments to Ai.

She then connects the dots as she compared the information she has researching Ai and the new information she gathered, and finally realized that Aqua (and Ruby) is Ai's secret children. Aqua muttered Ai's name one more time as Akane process the information.

Aqua then woke up, and noticed Akane crying. He asks her about it, and she answered vaguely about something tragic she just imagined about Aqua, the loneliness he felt about keeping things secret, and how she'll be his ally no matter what, embracing those painful things together as she embraced him as well. Aqua pretends to not understand what she meant, asking her to explain what she's talking about, but Akane deflected as well, saying that it's just a story that she came up with.

## Characters

* Ai Hoshino (flashback)
* Aqua Hoshino
* Akane Kurokawa
* Kana Arima
* Melt Narushima
* Koyuki Yoshidomi
* Sakuya Kamoshida
* Ryouma Funato
* Taishi Gotanda
* Gorou Amamiya (halluciation)
* Ruby Hoshino (flashback)

## References

1. ↑ *Oshi no Ko* Chapter 51 on Young Jump.
2. ↑ *Oshi no Ko* Manga:
 Chapter 28 (p. 8), Aqua reveals that his ideal woman is Ai Hoshino, and Akane jotted it down on her note..