Chapter 19: Hoshino Ai Has Become an Adult

After ending the call with Director Gotanda Taishi, some time passed and the filming day arrived. At the filming location, where I had brought Aqua and Ruby along with Miyako again, Aqua and I were talking with Director Gotanda Taishi.

“Listen carefully, casting child actors isn’t something guys like us decide; it’s roughly determined by higher-ups. The more expensive the project, the less we can afford to mess it up. To secure actors who can reliably draw in customers, the big shots have their own battles to fight.”

“And directors with casting power are either a handful of mega-directors or directors of low-budget small-scale films. Now, you little kid and you, manager, which one do I seem like to you?”

Director Gotanda Taishi is certainly a skilled director. But to call him a mega-director...

“A mega direct...”

“You must be a low-budget director, right?”

“Okay~ Manager, correct answer! Unfortunately, kid, you’re wrong. This is a low-budget set.”

As Director Gotanda Taishi spoke while looking around the filming location, Miyako, who was holding Ruby, approached and said,

“Aqua is in your debt today.”

“Ah, no, that matter is already settled. And with your mega manager on board, I should be the one saying ‘please take care of us’.”

Thanks to that, Aqua became Aqua, the child actor affiliated with Ichigo Production.

“If I use a kid not from an agency, I’ll get scolded. And,”

Director Gotanda Taishi looked at me and said,

“Honestly, I’m more surprised by your side, manager.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. It doesn’t make sense that high-level personnel like you are casually lent out to a low-budget set like this, almost for free. Even if you’re an executive, is that possible?”

“Of course, it’s impossible.”

For ordinary executives, it would be absolutely impossible. But,

“Unexpectedly, among executives, there are other executives. I’m just one of them, so my power in the company is second only to the Director.”

Myself and two other executives, based on the Director’s complete trust, held a certain degree of authority and power in the company. It was a measure in case something happened to Director Kuma.

“Whoa~ you’re really something!!”

While listening to my conversation with Director Gotanda Taishi, Aqua pointed at Ruby sleeping in Miyako’s arms from behind and said,

“If it’s acting, my sleeping little sister would probably do better than me. Since we’re at it, instead of me, give it to my sister...”

“No, it’s you. I’m using Ai in exchange for your appearance and the manager’s appearance. In this industry, that’s called a barter—the most basic thing, so remember it.”

With those words, as the director headed towards the filming location,

“Hey, my son being a barter... That scary-looking director really seems to like Aqua. What do you have to do to end up like this?”

“I didn’t do anything special. Uncles tend to be happy if kids treat them comfortably, so I just act overly enthusiastic on purpose.”

Upon hearing Aqua’s words, Miyako’s expression clearly showed she was thinking, ‘What a truly unpleasant kid.’

First, after sending Ruby and Aqua to the child actor waiting room, I moved to the waiting room where I would receive makeup.

Third-person: Hoshino Aqua/Ruby

Upon arriving at the child actor waiting room, Aqua and Ruby—not long after arriving—

“Mooom!!!! Mooom!! I want to go to Mom!! I want to go to Yume!!!! Why aren’t Mom and Yume both here?!!!!!”

Ruby was throwing a tantrum like she was in a ‘drought!!!!!!’. Aqua, looking at her with pity, said,

“Ai has a different filming schedule, and Yume has a different waiting room from us, so there’s nothing we can do.”

“Waaah!!! I want to go home quickly and cuddle!! I want to get drunk on Mom’s chest!!!! Send me back to Cuddle Cuddle Land!!!!!!”

She poured out remarks that would make Yume collapse if he heard them, ignoring any sense of language circulation.

Aqua thought to himself, ‘Aren’t you embarrassed, being such a big kid?’ He actually couldn’t tell what her mental age was.

“Even if it’s not Mom, I want to cuddle in Yume’s broad embrace!!! It’s different from Mom’s—hard but that’s also a good feeling!! Even if I touch his chest, he just pats me!!”

“Wow, I really think you should stop that.”

Aqua, thinking that Hoshino Yume’s chastity might be in danger, decided to do his best to prevent Ruby from hugging Yume in the future.

As they chatted as if they were alone, a girl with noticeable red hair, who was there with them, slammed the script she was holding onto the desk and said,

“This is a professional set! If you’re here to play, go back!”

“Uh....”

Aqua was flustered by the sudden words from the red-haired girl, but since he didn’t know who she was, he couldn’t respond. Seeing that,

“I’m Arima Kana, today’s performer.”

At that, Ruby, who was behind Aqua, pointed at the red-haired girl with her finger and said,

“Ah, this kid, that’s not it... what was it... ah! The genius child actor who licks sodium bicarbonate...?”

“The genius child actor who cries in 10 seconds!!! Everyone said your crying in the drama was really amazing! It was awesome!”

Arima Kana said with a pride-filled expression, looking at Aqua and Ruby, but

“I don’t really like this kid. Something feels artificial, so it’s physiologically unbearable.”

Ruby didn’t take to her much, and Aqua responded,

“Do you sometimes get unusually angry at child actors?”

He didn’t know why she sometimes acted like that, but since it was her usual behavior, he decided to let it go.

“I know!! You, you’re a parachute! During the script reading stage, neither you, the idol, nor the manager guy were cast... Mom said the director pushed for it!! And other higher-ups too!!! That’s not right!”

“No, that’s not it...”

As Aqua was about to say that, upon hearing “other higher-ups,” he thought,

‘Could it be Yume............No way...?’

As the saying goes, ‘what if’ catches people, and Yume did exert a little pressure for this appearance. Since one person might not have been enough, he used the power of himself, the two other executives, and Director Kuma, so of course, it went very smoothly. But naturally, this was a fact unknown to Aqua, Ai, Ruby, Miyako, or Saito.

“I saw the drama the director filmed last time, and you had no appearance at all. You probably can’t act well enough to be cast anyway, right? You just know how to flirt with adults!!!! AD, Kana, carry my bag!”

“Ah, wait a minute...”

With that, Arima Kana left the waiting room, and the expressions of Aqua and Ruby left behind changed to ones so fierce they could be believed to be demons,

“Brother.”

“I know, she’s just a kid.... I won’t kill her.....”

When Yume returned to the waiting room and saw the expressions on these two, he showed a horrified face, after which Aqua and Ruby hurriedly relaxed their expressions.

Aqua proceeded to film his scene, and

roughly speaking, the movie’s plot is about a woman who has no confidence in her appearance for some reason gets plastic surgery at a suspicious hospital in the mountains.

And the creepy kids you meet at the village entrance—that’s the role I was assigned.

Looking to the side, I observed the acting of the girl introduced as Arima Kana, and

“Welcome, guest... Please feel at ease and stay...”

Seeing her acting up close, indeed, the genius child actor acts well.

Even if I do the same thing, the difference in skill will make it unbearable to watch.

Even as a complete beginner, I can clearly see that much.

So, what should I do? Thinking simply, I should act like a creepy kid.

But that director probably isn’t asking that of me.

After glancing once at the face of Director Gotanda Taishi, who was sitting and watching my filming,

‘The movie the director wants’ is clearly...

“There’s only one inn in this village. Check in once and take a walk around the village.”

This line I’m saying now is a hastily added part; Yume explained that the director added it after knowing me. And thinking about the intent,

I think it’s better not to act at all.

Faithfully responding to the director’s intent should be enough, even if not said out loud, but what the director wants to say is,

‘Even without acting, you’re creepy enough.’

Third-person: Hoshino Aqua

“Cut OK!!!”

“Whew.”

Aqua, having finished filming, let out a sigh and loosened his body stiffened from tension. Then, the actress playing the protagonist role approached and said,

“Amazing, sis, I got chills.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

Aqua, taking it as praise that his acting was decent, was somewhat satisfied. But,

“Relief? What do you mean?”

Arima Kana approached Director Gotanda Taishi and said,

“Director, let’s reshoot.”

“Huh? No, there was no problem.”

“No problem?!!!!!!”

“Just now, Kana......! I was much worse than that kid! I hate it! One more time! Please! I’ll do better! Just one more time, okay!?”

After calming down the excited, tearful Arima Kana and sending her for a break, Aqua talked with the director.

“Hey, what do you think is the most important element for a child actor?”

“Hmm... skill or sense? Or maybe overflowing motivation and the amount of effort?”

“Well, those are important too. But ultimately, the most important thing is communication skills. If you’re disliked by other actors or staff, work quickly dries up. Acting arrogantly from a young age means no future.”

At the director’s words, Aqua looked at him and said,

“Did you maybe want to teach that kid a lesson? Using me?”

“I didn’t have such a cheeky thought, but this is also nourishment. Your acting was exactly the kind I imagined.”

Despite the director’s praise, Aqua wasn’t particularly pleased. Because,

“That kid’s acting was more amazing. I just did what I usually do.”

“But I didn’t say a single word to make you do that. Figuring out my intent is also a kind of communication skill you have.”

“Of course, understanding the direction and intent and acting accordingly is basic for an actor. But actors who can read even unverbalized intent are precious. In our position, we’d want to have them by any means necessary, because the director’s head has the ideal image.”

Director Gotanda Taishi patted Aqua’s head and said,

“Instead of becoming an actor who does amazing acting, become one who does exactly the right acting. You’ll definitely succeed.”

“No, I’m not going to be an actor...”

Thus, Aqua’s filming ended.

And Hoshino Aqua had set one foot into this industry.