Translator: Flowingcloud Editor: Arocks141
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Theater 2: Genius Child Actor Meets Genius Child Actor!? – Scene 3
Hinomoto Television, Spacious Room (Day)
Kakinuma looks towards Tsugumi and Mizuho faces one another, he nostalgically recalls the past.
In a pure-white room (stage) lit by bright fluorescent lights, a young girl and a lady held a script in their hands and faced each other. Is it because of “her” name? Or perhaps, is it due to her words that I heard from Kuramoto-kun?
I couldn’t help but recall a flashback of the past from seeing this scene.
The first year of the Heisei era has passed, I met a woman who was just beginning to make a name for herself at the time. She had appeared in a number of scary movies and was an excellent actor behind the special effects makeup. She hid her real face under a veil and laughed that she could go out on the street with no makeup on and not be noticed. 1
I met her later in a film that would later be known as the turning point for her. The title of the film was, if I remember correctly, The Depths of Evil. The first half of the film is about the forbidden love of a woman who was attracted to a beautiful girl. The second half is the story of a woman who chased after a beautiful girl, who was assaulted and killed by the villain, becoming an evil spirit and taking revenge on the villain. The protagonist is the twin brother of one of the assaulters, who mistakenly attacked him after he died in an accident. I appeared in the film as the brother who helped him.
Until then, she had been nothing more than a “promising horror actress”, but her forbidden love affair with the girl astonished everyone, including me. The rest of the film, except for her scares, was somewhat incomplete. However, I wondered if an actor could nail the audience’s heart so tightly.
(You still had a future. The young me dreamed of a future with you. You always surprised people—you ran too fast.)
I’ll never forget that One Cup we had as we talked about our dreams on Benkei Bridge in Akasaka. One way or another, we made a connection, and I’ve never forgotten our spirits clashing against each other. 2
“Scene—”
I looked at the girl who did not bear the slightest resemblance to her at all. She had silver hair and blue eyes—an exotic appearance—but her features are somehow familiar. It was so mysterious, and “fairy-like” would be a good adjective to describe her.
Her name is the same as hers. However, other than that, everything else is different. This is normal. This is normal—but I felt my skin feel a tingling something that I remembered in the atmosphere.
“—start.”
Aikawa-kun, playing the role of Mizuki, looked around restlessly. It was just her acting lost, but she was approaching 20 years as an actress, so even during the script reading, her gestures were dignified.
“This is troubling.”
She behaved as if she was looking at a watch. The message conveyed to the audience was that there was not much time left.
“I’m late on the first day. What am I going to tell the teacher?”
A girl approached her, who was lost in thought. In the drama, the girl is dressed in a gender-neutral outfit, and the scene changes to a first-person perspective to create an androgenous-like image, but right now, she only looks like a cute and lovely girl.
That’s right, I wasn’t supposed to be able to see it.
“Sensei. Are you lost?”
Calm breathing. A boy soprano, one tone lower than her usual voice. Is she adjusting her tone and diction to make it difficult to understand the characteristic lisp of children? 3
The tone of her voice, her gestures, and her quickly styled hair made her seem less like a girl.
“Y-Yes. Are you a student here?”
“The school building is over there. You’ll know where the staff room is when you walk down the first floor.”
“U-Um?”
“But, be careful.”
Take one step. Bend your knees and move with your feet without changing the position of your head. This movement, with the perfectly coordinated weight shift, gives the viewer the impression that you were floating.
—It was a technique that “she” was very good at.
No way, I shook my head. It can’t be. First of all, she had even often said, “Hard work 70 percent, talent 30 percent.” She was a hardworking person who had gone through blood-soaked training and used her monstrous mental strength to overcome anything. This girl, however, was probably the genius-type—a person who could handle her superhuman-like talents with her superior sense.
Her technique should not be difficult for that sort of body. Perhaps, she had seen one of her movies and had been practicing, or maybe to begin with, she had trained in martial arts.
“—”
“Over there are demons, the dwelling of evil spirits.”
“…Eh?”
“If you don’t pay attention, you’ll be eaten by a sca~ry ghost.”
Aikawa-kun diverted her gaze. From her point of view, it would seem as if she suddenly disappeared from her field of vision, which she returned back to immediately. It was because she went into her blind spot soundlessly the moment she sensed her gaze looking away for a second.
It was completely unbelievable. I was beyond saving, as I kept putting her and this girl together. At least, it was hard to say that “she” was a person overflowing with talent.
“…I was surprised.”
After the scene, Tsukishiro-kun murmured as he watched the director give his thoughts on the two.
“Are child actors these days this capable?”
“Well, Yoruhata-kun’s son gave a green, but splendid performance.”
“He’s thirteen, isn’t he? It’s scary to think what she’ll be like when she’s around that age.”
“I wonder. Even if she is a prodigy now, she might be a genius at that time.”
“Once you hit twenty, you’re just an ordinary person, is it?” 4
“Haha, maybe so.”
Even as he was chatting, the passion in Tsukishiro-kun’s eyes had not disappeared. He was a man of three faces: the surface of his acting was like ice, like a flower in his private life, and like a blaze in his true nature. He was greedier than anyone else in his quest to reach the summit of the acting world. To him, he had decided that the young girl with the same name as her had the qualifications to stand shoulder-to-shoulder beside him.
Ahh, but as far as I was concerned, it was the same for me. A child of this age can be difficult to deal with when performing together. “Sakura” from the past was a different story though.
However, if it was that girl, at least, there would be little chance to complain about her performance. She seemed to be kept in a cage, so I am worried about her physical strength though.
I wonder why. I wondered why I was getting so fired up. When was the last time? Ahh, that’s right, it has been a while since I have last heard her name. Maybe I was reminded of that day.
“Do you have any dreams for the future?”
“How about you? Do you have one, Kakinuma-san?”
“Don’t reply to a question with a question… Of course, I want to stand at the top of the acting world.”
“If that’s the case, my dream can coexist with yours.”
“Coexist?”
“Yes! At any rate, my dream is to strike fear into the hearts of people in Hollywood!”
“Ha-hahahahaha! What’s with that?! Ahh, okay, fine. I’ll star in your horror film and win the Best Actor award.”
“That sounds great! It’s a promise then, Kakinuma-san!”
I’m sure you’ll still be frightening people in the afterlife. I wonder what she would say if she saw me. I’m sure she would sigh in disappointment, then come back to scare me with all she can. After all, I’ve even had nightmares from her acting as an evil spirit.
I don’t know of any evil spirit as sincere as you, as passionate as you, and as terrifying as you. I will no longer act in a way that will make you feel sorry for me.
“It’s your turn, Kakinuma-san.”
Her provocative smile burned into the back of my eyelids. Her life as an actor had been lacking in some respects, but it would be interesting to see her come back.
“Kakinuma-san?”
“…—Ahh, I’m sorry. It’s nothing.”
The next scene is with me and the girl. It was the scene where the principal, Kinukata Kozo, calls out to Hiiragi Lily. Kinukata was indirectly involved in the incident that caused Hiiragi to break down, and for that reason, he feels guilty. As a teacher, he was torn between his sense of justice, his fear of losing his position as principal, and his feelings of guilt towards the girl. Thus, he tolerated anything, no matter what happened. He does not operate for justice, but neither does he move for evil. That’s what kind of human he is.
In this scene, his stance of not condoning bullying, but not overlooking it either is depicted.
“Well then, let’s start. Scene—”
Three girls were in conflict. The three girls were Yoruhata-kun’s daughter, a bullying victim who was not a major character within the selected child actors, and a young girl… Sorahoshi, Tsugumi-kun. She played a mysterious girl who was boyish and attractive in some regards. I was looking forward to seeing what kind of villain she would show us, which is unsuitable for her age.
“—start.”
Director Hiraga’s voice. His well-conveyed voice flipped the switch of our consciousness. In front of us, there were three girls. From the circumstances, I could instantly guess what was going on.
“What are you guys doing?”
Well now, what kind of performance will you show this old man? What would a lisping kid, a preschooler child actor, show us right after their mischievous performance earlier?
That’s right. As if mocking me for being halfheartedly in the performance, her pupils similar to glass marbles pierced towards me.
“We were just playing. Right?”
“Eek.”
The girl playing the victim exclaimed softly as her shoulders jolted. It was splendid acting. However, it was not her true ability. She was being engulfed by the strange atmosphere and was being forced to act.
The girl who was at the heart of the matter was not Sorahoshi Tsugumi, who came to greet us. Instead, it was Hiiragi Lily, whose personality development materialized into evil itself due to an incident.
“Sensei. You get it, right? We were just playing.”
“A-Ahh. Is that so? But, it’s already late today. Go home before it gets dark.”
“Okaaay. Let’s go, Kaede-chan.”
“…Okay.”
Akimi Kaede, played by Rin—Yoruhata-kun’s daughter—nodded as she looked at Lily and me with concern. Lily quietly walked away, leaving the victim’s child behind, then turned around and looked over her shoulder.
“See you tomorrow.”
She smiled.
However, there was nothing.
Nothing was fun.
Nothing made her happy.
Only to destroy and protect.
Only to love and snatch away.
A strong message struck through her eyes.
“Cut. As expected, good work.”
“…Is that so?”
“Kakinuma-san?”
“It seems like I wasn’t quite as warmed up like everyone else. I’m quite embarrassed. I’m sure I can do better next time.”
“Even better than that? However, that was very lifelike. You conveyed your perplexing feeling.”
Director Hiraga’s words were eye-opening. What came next was a flame that I had almost forgotten. I had no intention of acting perplexed. Nevertheless, if those around me could feel it, then there was no mistaking it.
I was forced to act. That little girl made me act.
“Looks like I’ve lost my energy. Heh-heh.”
“K-Kakinuma-san?”
“Ahh, no, it’s nothing.”
I will only thank you for now. After this, I will have to apologize at your grave. It seems that I have not yet fulfilled the promise I made with you.
If you are reading from a pirate or aggregator site, please read from the translator’s site: yado-inn (dot) com I have to put the link like this or else the bots will remove it, sorry 🙁
- Flowingcloud: Heisei 1 is 1989. All eras end on the last day of April and start on the first day of May, thus Showa 26 and Heisei 1 are both 1989. Although the eras start and end like so, the month and day follow the Western (Gregorian) calendar.
- Flowingcloud: One Cup is a bottle of sake (in can shape) that can be found widely in Japan. You can find it at pretty much any convenience store and supermarket. It’s cheap (and pretty shit just like Bud Light).
https://www.ozeki.co.jp/english/products/sake/onecup/ - Flowingcloud: This one is confusing if you don’t quite understand. All children lisp, and unless they have trained to talk with perfect enunciation (which is basically impossible, most children have some form of lisp, a characteristic feature of a child’s linguistic abilities. In Japanese, children’s lisps are especially prevalent in speaking, thus, Tsugumi speaks in a more lisp-like way as she normally speaks with perfect enunciation (since this is just a fantasy novel in the end).
- Flowingcloud: “When you’re ten, they call you a prodigy. When you’re fifteen, they call you a genius. Once you hit twenty, you’re just an ordinary person.” This is a very famous Japanese saying that some may know from Free! (the swimming anime) which they are clearly referring to.
Finally! Thank you!!
Our angel/devil will finally be able to show its claws 😀 Thanks