Translator: Flowingcloud Editor: Arocks141
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Theater 4: Horror Actress’s Friend From the Old Days!? – Scene 2
Sorahoshi Tsugumi hears the signal for the scene to end.
Tsugumi rushes over to the girl who got out of her role.
“—Cut!”
I got out of my role along with the signal. I reached out my hand to the girl playing Nana, who crumpled down on the spot, and she took my hand without wiping her tear-stained face. After this, the next scene is where we sit obediently in our seats. The focus would then change from Hiiragi Lily to Mizuki Sana.
Taking into consideration the child actor’s stamina, today, we’ll be going ahead with many of the scenes that can be filmed in the school building for the time being. After all, today is the first time and there are many people that are usually very busy.
“Good morning, Tsugumi-kun. And you’re Rin-kun, Mimi-kun, and Juria-kun, right?”
“Ah, Kakinuma-san? Good morning!”
Rin was explaining to me what a drone was and Mimi was watching us with a wry smile besides us as usual. Rin, Mimi and Juria bowed their heads to Mr. Kakinuma after me.
…He had grizzled hair and kind looking smile lines. I wonder if he wears glasses anymore? He looked much calmer than before.
“It’s getting warmer, but it’s still chilly out. If you feel unwell, tell an adult, okay? Taking care of yourself is part of being an actor.’
‘You know what happens when you take a dip in the ocean in cold weather, don’t you? It’s the actor’s job to take care of themselves. If it’s tough, just say it.’
Suddenly, I had a flashback from Kakinuma-san from the past. He had always been a worrier. As I recalled this moment, I tried to hide my embarrassment under a smile.
“Thank you very much, we’ll be careful. Kakinuma-san.”
“Mhm, good girl.”
He placed his hand on my head. This sense of nostalgia felt undeserved by me, as I wasn’t Kirio Tsugumi, but my chest eventually warmed up.
“Kakinuma-san, how about me? How about me?”
“Haha, you’re so energetic. You’re also a good girl, Juria.”
“Yay! Mimi, he said I’m a good girl too!”
“G-Good for you, Juria-chan.”
…Come to think of it, Kakinuma-san, didn’t you say that you were “not good with kids”?
Well, I guess things change after 20 years. By the way, did he ever get married? If he had married after my death, it would not be surprising if he had children around 10 or 15 years old.
Love. Love, huh? I wonder if I will be able to fall in love in this life. In my previous life—
“Tsugumi, we’re moving you know?”
“Eh, ah, sorry, Rin-chan. Let’s go.”
“You’ve been weird since Kakinuma-san patted you.”
“Mmm, u-umm.”
“Did you get headpatted (nadepo)?”
“Hmm??”
‘Nadepo’ (headpatted)? Eh, what language is that? Has that kind of language boomed in the last 20 years? I thought I would be able to do something about it since I studied English really hard, but what should I do if speaking Greek is also required? Ah… I wonder if I can manage to just memorize it since my body in this life is so high-spec. 1
As I was brooding, Rin-chan smoothly patted my head for some reason.
She might have mistaken my head for a basketball. As I looked closely at Rin-chan, Rin-chan looked back at me in puzzlement. I wonder why.
“She should have blushed by now.”
I tilted my head in puzzlement without thinking at Rin’s words.
“What does that…”
“Then, is that Kakinuma’s power? Juria, did you get affected too?”
Rin-chan didn’t answer my question and brought the topic up with Juria-chan.
“As if! Tsugumi just has a thing for older men. Right, Mimi?”
“I-I don’t know about that, Juria-chan.”
What should I do? It’s as if I’m listening to aliens. I was left in confusion without understanding a single thing they were saying, however, my intuition as an actor was telling me one way or another that it felt like it was something shameful.
Mimi-chan was the only one who covered for me. She really is a kind person.
“What kind of person is your type, Tsugumi?”
“Umm…”
I tilted my head to the side to think as Rin-chan asked me. The first thing that came to mind was a big, gentle hand, whether you’re thinking about it from Kirio Tsugumi’s or Sorahoshi Tsugumi’s point of view.
“Someone like Daddy!”
“A well-off, handsome, tall guy?”
“M-Mimi-chan?”
“I’m fine with a normal person…”
Mimi exclaimed, her eyes darted around at my answer. Juria-chan had a tired look. Rin-chan seemed to be thinking deeply about something.
“So someone kind?”
“Uh-huh, well, I guess so?”
“Like someone in movies and dramas?”
“Umm, is it better for them to have a story?”
“I see.”
Rin nodded her head again while Juria and Mimi had a wry smile. I wonder if Rin-chan turns blind to her surroundings on a regular basis? As I thought of this, I turned towards Juria-chan and you answered with a smile.
“Rin’s like that once she starts thinking.”
“Y-Yeah. Once she focuses, she’s not coming back.”
“We can just ask her what she’s thinking about.”
Thus, I stood in front of Rin-chan as she brooded with her hand on her chin. Looking behind me, I could see Juria-chan and Mimi-chan cheering me on with clenched fists at my frontal attack.
Seeing the two of them looking so cute, I couldn’t just back out of the situation as one would expect. ‘That’s right,’ I suddenly remembered. I’ll bring her back just as Rin-chan did to me.
“Kind… adult… tolerant… the same views… older.”
“Rin-chan… Take that!”
I gently put my finger against the side of her body and slid it slowly.
“—!?!?!?”
“Your sides are open, Rin-chan.”
Rin-chan jumped like a shrimp, looked around her surroundings restlessly as if her awareness that had flown away had just returned, then looked at me with teary eyes. As one would expect, when she looked at me with those hamster-like eyes, I felt very guilty. Errr…
I guess I should coax Rin-chan, who was weakly patting my shoulder quietly. As I coaxed her, Rin-chan smiled, perhaps calming down.
“…You’re a devilish girl.”
“I think that’s a little bit different. So, what were you thinking about?”
“I was—huh?”
Apparently, she had been so shocked that she had forgotten what she was thinking. As expected, I might have done something bad. I looked at Juria-chan and Mimi-chan and the two of them turned on their heels as if they were used to it.
“Who knows—let’s go, you two.”
“Uh-huh—Sure, let’s go.”
After saying those words, Juria-chan and Mimi-chan started to quickly reboot and walk away. It hasn’t been long since I’ve met them and I’ve never seen this before, but judging by the way Juria-chan and Mimi-chan were acting, it’s probably a regular occurrence. I followed the two with Rin-chan leading me by my hand.
The wooden school building made a creaking sound when adults walked around, but there was no sign of bouncing nor decay. It was a well-maintained school building. As the four of us walked through the place, I couldn’t help but picture all of us attending the same school together.
We may be in different grades, but if we could walk like this in the future… Not!
——
Aikawa Mizuho performs with a child actress.
Mizuho has her breath taken away by her partner’s lifelike performance.
——
“I’m not being bullied!”
“—”
Eyes of hatred. I was bewildered by the mixture of frustration, anger, anxiety, and fear in their expressions. This is the scene where the character I play, Mizuki Sana, is advised by her colleague, Kurose Kimihiko, to talk to a student who is being bullied in a small room—the student guidance office.
Ogawa Erin-chan, who plays the role of Nana, was still developing and by no means is she a very good actress. Yet, the way she clenched her teeth now—in fear of being bullied again—seemed lifelike without flattery.
“B-But, people saw—”
“We were just playing. I was just playing with her!”
“—Her?”
She turned pale and shivered to my question as she bit on her lips. I thought this was praiseworthy, but is this really acting? I could only imagine that this is an actor being seriously afraid of another actor’s skills.
“Hey, could you please tell me? Maybe, we could reduce the number of children like you…”
“No… no, no, no!! I’m not—I’m not a “bug/insect” anymore!!”
“Ah, wait a moment.”
True acting. A true scream. Nana opened the student guidance office’s door, as if to slam it open, and ran away. I hesitated for a beat then chased after her, but Nana was no longer there, only the sound of her descending the stairs remaining.
Then, as I turned the corner, I came face to face with a girl.
“Sensei?”
“—Hiiragi-san?”
Hiiragi Lily. At that time, Mizuki Sana still did not know Hiiragi Lily’s true nature. She only knew that there was a cute half-Japanese girl. Thus, even though she was surprised to meet her here, that was it.
“Nana-chan was just running just now…”
“Y-Yes. Sorry, I had something to ask her.”
“Something to ask her? Shall I ask Nana for you?”
When she acts as the bully, or when she gives warnings as Lilia, Hiiragi Lily was different from them, but feigned friendliness perfectly.
“No, it’s fine. Sensei will try their best to ask her.”
“Hmm. So, she didn’t tell you?”
Her voice dropped a note.
She put her fingers on her lips.
Amused eyes.
“Eh?”
“So, she didn’t tell Sensei about her worries, right?”
“Yes, she didn’t…”
Her expression quickly switched. The slightest glimpse of amusement was not in the script’s instructions. Still, it exceeded the expression stated in the script at a timing that would satisfy anyone.
Could it be that I am participating in an amazing drama? I have confidence that this will be great when it airs. Producer Kuramoto sure is capable. Where did he get them from?
“She’s a sensitive girl, so please don’t tease her too much.”
“Y-Yes, of course.”
“Well then, see you later—Do you best, okay? Sensei.”
“T-Thanks. Yes, good bye.”
Faint humming could be heard. Hiiragi Lily walked down the stairs in a good mood and turned around on the landing and smiled. She had a happy face, as if she found a new toy to play with. 2
“—Cut!”
At the same time as Director Hiraga’s words, I put my hand on my chest and paused for a beat. This is a ritual that I have been doing ever since I finished my days as a “rookie”. A ritual that removed me from the role. After finishing it in a blink of an eye, Tsugumi-chan was coming up the stairs.
She’s quick to get out of her role… She looked cute as always, looked me in the eye, smiled, and bowed her head. She’s so cute. If I had a girl like this at home, it would be fun every day. I wonder if she would wake me up in the morning.
“Thanks for your hard work!”
“Good job~ Your performance is good today as well, isn’t it?”
“Really? Thank you!”
A bashful smile. Seeing her smile, I looked at Erin-chan, who played Nana and was more relieved than anyone else. Seeing that look of relief on Erin-chan’s face, the puzzle suddenly came together in my mind.
Erin-chan suddenly became a skillful actress.
Tsugumi-chan acted as if her soul had been replaced.
Erin-chan’s acting had changed since the first shoot with Tsugumi-chan.
Erin-chan was relieved when Tsugumi showed a gentle smile, appropriate for her age.
(Ah shoot… she was “dragged in” wasn’t she?)
It would have been fine if she was a veteran, but if it was a fellow child actor, then I think the impact it would have on her would be big. I think she will be fine for now, but that’s unknown as the filming progresses.
(I’ll bring this up with Producer Kuramoto, Kakinuma-san, and Asada-san.)
Whether I liked it or not, ‘I might be performing in an unthinkable drama.’ Those words flashed through my mind.
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: なでポ (nadepo) is where the heroine falls for the main protagonist after they just smile or pat their head. A classic cliche that has a Japanese slang term. Since it’s slang, Tsugumi’s boomer brain couldn’t handle it and thought it was a different language lol. Could’ve translated indirectly, but didn’t wanna swerve off too much.
Arocks141: Nadepo (aka Japanese Cliche #1212) is a common term used to describe the act of the protagonist inducing romantic feelings by patting a female lead’s head. - Flowingcloud: [insert Toy Story memes]