After the joint script reading that felt like a film festival finally wrapped up, Kaoru and Ai were guided into a large conference room.
A long table was arranged in a [ ] shape, with both sides facing each other around the center.
To make the script reading and filming go smoothly, the staff were moving busily about.
The actors who had arrived early were seated according to their nameplates, and Director Gotanda, sitting at the exact center of the table, spotted the Kaoru-Ai couple entering the conference room.
"You’re here."
"Hello-★"
"Good afternoon."
As Ai and Kaoru bowed their heads in greeting, Director Gotanda and the other actors welcomed the couple.
Kaoru and Ai exchanged polite greetings in turn with the actors they already knew and the ones they were meeting for the first time.
Then Kaoru, together with his wife, approached Yuriko Yoshikawa and greeted her with a faint smile.
"It’s been a while, Ms. Yoshikawa. This is the first time we’ve met since your cameo appearance, right?"
"Ah, yes. K-Kamiki-san! It feels really moving to see you again! Yes! Huhuhu~!"
Yuriko couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her lips and ended up covering her mouth with her right hand.
Even after ten years, Kaoru’s face was as radiant as ever, and as a woman, she couldn’t help but feel her ears turn red.
To her, who still cherished the brief exchange of acting they had shared during the cameo as a precious memory, and kept that fresh, innocent feeling deep in her heart—
Kaoru had become one of the people she was grateful to for helping her grow, both as a "woman" and as an "actor."
Ai and Kaoru, who had appeared in the same drama together, had become husband and wife, and now he was the father of four children—almost ten years had passed, but Yuriko smiled as she savored those pleasant memories as an "adult."
"Hello?"
At that moment.
When Ai smiled brightly and greeted her, Yuriko finally realized she had been staring at Kaoru far too intently and quickly bowed her head.
"Ah, Ms. Hoshino. It’s been a really long time for us too! I think this is the first time we’ve met since the drama awards, isn’t it?!"
"Yes-★"
Her mouth was smiling, but those abyss-like eyes with all the starlight gone were staring straight through Yuriko.
Yuriko immediately sensed that something was terribly wrong.
Because she was a woman too, she could feel it.
This absurd reversal of the atmosphere.
That one-line exchange that ended with a flat "Yes-★"—and the unnaturally cold voice whose connection to her expression had been completely severed.
Dry saliva went down Yuriko’s throat on its own.
From ten years ago until now, Ai’s aura, which had always been as brilliant as starlight, was nowhere to be found.
With no light at all, eyes in which dark starlight swirled inside her pupils mercilessly shredded Yuriko to pieces.
Ai, deliberately holding her husband’s hand tightly, rubbed her head against Kaoru’s arm in silence, then smiled first at Yuriko and said,
"【My husband】, please take good care of him-★"
"……Ah, yes, yes…."
She still wasn’t married, but so this was how terrifying marriage could be.
Forcing an awkward laugh, Yuriko avoided Ai’s eyes glittering with dark starlight and quickly nodded.
Watching the scene from a little distance while pretending not to notice, Director Gotanda found himself thinking that maybe living alone and taking care of an elderly mother would be a better choice after all.
"All right. Let’s begin. Starting from scene number 125…"
Once the eventful round of greetings was over, the joint script reading began in earnest.
In a very serious atmosphere with not a trace of laughter, Kaoru and Ai sat right beside Director Gotanda and performed the reading together.
Since this was an unprecedented case of a married couple appearing in the same work together, the other cast members watched Kaoru and Ai’s reading with curious, interested eyes.
"I’m nervous."
Ai’s starlit eyes sparkled with excitement and tension.
As an "actor," she had never dared to imagine that she would appear in the same work as her husband and match their acting together, yet this dreamlike thing was happening in reality.
Her heart was pounding, and she kept getting thirsty, but Ai did not dislike it at all.
Rather, being able to act alongside Kaoru made her feel so exhilarated it was almost like going back to the fresh-faced teens she had been when they first met at the theater and he had taught her acting classes.
"Ms. Fukumoto. Is my lunchbox… to your taste?"
"Yes. It was good… delicious. I’m grateful just that Ms. Aizawa took the time out of her busy schedule to make it. The case… I’ll wash it clean and bring it back next time."
As the couple exchanged lines naturally side by side, a strange emotion—subtle yet dangerously close to crossing the line—was conveyed with delicate precision.
The mutual curiosity and questions of two men and women who had never met and lived completely different lives, along with that ticklish feeling of each slowly reaching out toward the other’s emotions, beyond ethics and moral restraint, as a married man and an unmarried mother.
"He’s analyzed it pretty thoroughly."
Director Gotanda’s mouth curved into a barely visible, satisfied smile.
This joint script reading was a huge success, with all the actors, including Kaoru and Ai, scoring above passing and looking ready to move straight to the set.
After that first joint script reading ended.
Under Director Gotanda’s instructions, all the actors except the Kaoru-Ai couple exchanged farewells and left the conference room.
As soon as the reading ended, hunger came rushing in as the tension left her body, and Ai, her starlit eyes sparkling, sat in her chair and took the snack cookies on the table with a shush-shush motion, first putting one into Kaoru’s mouth and then munching on one herself with om-nom-nom delight.
"Uuu- chocolate cookies are love!"
Kaoru gently wiped the chocolate cookie crumbs from the corner of his wife’s mouth with his thumb as she stamped her feet and smiled happily.
For his hungry wife, Kaoru opened another chocolate cookie and handed it to her, then spoke to Director Gotanda, who was watching them with his arms crossed.
"Is there a separate reason you kept Ms. Arima from attending the script reading?"
At Kaoru’s question, tinged with curiosity, Director Gotanda smiled as if he had expected to be asked that and said,
"I was wondering when you’d ask. Well, too much interaction with too many actors would be poison for Arima in a situation like this. I was actually giving Arima a ‘special favor.’"
"…A ‘special favor’?"
Since when had skipping a joint script reading counted as a special favor?
Still, President Rentarou hadn’t said much about it, and when it came to actors, a director’s authority was absolute, so Kaoru couldn’t really add anything—but
just attending would surely be a good experience for Kana, who was overflowing with potential.
Ignoring Kaoru’s follow-up question, Director Gotanda nodded and answered,
"That’s right. A ‘special favor.’"
His jacket pocket buzzed with a vibration, and Gotanda took out his smartphone, his trademark stern eyebrows twitching once before he sent a message.
"She’ll be here soon."
"Eh-? Who?"
Ai, already on her fourth chocolate cookie after passing three, tilted her head and asked—
Director Gotanda nodded toward the staff member near the door and said to Ai,
"Your daughter."
"……Eeeh!?"
At Director Gotanda’s unexpected answer, Ai was startled—and then, through the open door, a cute girl with a red bob and a beret quickly walked in.
The visibly nervous girl took a breath, then clasped both hands politely and bowed her head with a loud greeting.
"I’m Arima Kana of [Stani-On]! Please take care of me today!"
The real lead of the day, who finally appeared in full after the joint script reading was over.
At Arima Kana’s surprise entrance—
"What are you doing? Hurry up and say hello, then let’s get back to the reading."
"…Ka, Kana-chan?!"
"……"
Kaoru and Ai, who had been neatly blindsided by Director Gotanda’s surprise plan, stood up from their chairs and looked at Kana.
Of course, Kana, who had no idea what was going on in Director Gotanda’s head—
"…Eh…?"
could only blink blankly, unable to understand why the Kaoru-Ai couple was staring at her in shock.
"Mom. You know~ if I’m born again in my next life, I want to be born again as your daughter!"
"Hehe— really? Mommy will remember that and never forget it, okay?"
The solo script reading between Kana and Ai continued in the large conference room.
When it came to passion for "acting," Kana refused to lose to anyone, and her talent was outstanding as well, so before long she had forgotten her nerves and was shining as she delivered seasoned, natural emotional acting.
Ai already knew Kana from their previous connection, and since Kana was only one year older than her eldest daughter Ruby, she had no trouble reviving the heart of a "mother" and slipping smoothly into her role.
Their hair colors were different, but the two of them naturally showed off a sticky chemistry as mother and daughter.
"……"
Kaoru stood beside the staff member filming the script reading with a camera and quietly took in the affectionate mother-daughter performance.
Was this the big picture Director Gotanda had drawn?
He had already known that Kana, who was not much younger than Ruby and had to act as a mother-daughter pair with Ai herself, needed the most important script-reading partner of all.
"Okay. Good. Scene number 244. The hospitalization scene for [Aizawa Yui]…"
"Yes!"
At Director Gotanda’s instruction, Kana turned the pages of the script, her eyes sparkling with seriousness.
Kaoru realized that the gruff Director Gotanda was inwardly satisfied with how well Ai and Kana’s acting chemistry was coming together.
"Mom. You can forget about Yui if you want, so please live happily, okay? I hate it when you cry every time you think of me. Okay?"
Kana’s voice, fully immersed in the role, trembled with sadness as it followed the emotion.
Instantly immersed in the part and raising her emotions, Ai, a veteran child actor, likewise resonated emotionally and threw herself into the scene.
"Don’t say that! Yui will keep living with Mom. You mustn’t say weak things… Mom doesn’t want to forget Yui. I can’t forget you."
Ai’s sad voice, with tears welling in her starlit eyes, echoed softly through the conference room.
Experience is one of the most important nutrients for an actor.
Ai, who had spent the past years raising babies, could never fail to understand a mother’s heart as she tried to encourage her sick daughter not to lose courage.
The aching feelings of a mother with a child reached Kaoru’s heart in a raw, piercing way—but—
"……"
Director Gotanda nodded after seeing the two actresses’ flawless performances, but then he slightly furrowed his brow at the vague, floating sense of dissatisfaction seeping into him.
Clearly, in the 99 percent of the picture he had set out to create and properly drawn from that goal, there was just 1 percent missing. The problem was that even Director Gotanda himself did not clearly know why that 1 percent was missing.
"It’s not a problem with Arima, and it’s not a problem with Ai either…. This is the first time I’ve had no idea exactly which part I should direct."
Whether it was because of his eccentric artistic eye or something else, he couldn’t say for sure, and because it was awkward and delicate to direct, Director Gotanda had no choice but to give the OK for now.
Director Gotanda, Ai, and Kana exchanged opinions, and Kaoru stood behind them, watching the scene together with the filming staff.
After about ten minutes of discussion, Ai and Kana’s first script reading came to a safe end.
"Thank you very much! Director!"
"Thank you~★ Chocolate cookies~"
"Ah, thank you very much."
Kana stood up from her chair, bowed politely, and thanked them, while Ai, with her usual bright, easygoing smile, took a chocolate cookie from the plate and handed it to Kana.
Lost in thought as he watched the two of them, Director Gotanda unfolded his arms, nodded, and said in a casual voice,
"…Yeah, good work. You can take all of those if you want. Arima, take some too."
"Good work, Director."
"What good work? See you on set."
Patting Kaoru on the shoulder, Director Gotanda picked up the script packet with a thoughtful expression and left the conference room first.
"……"
Kana’s red eyes followed Director Gotanda all the way as he left the conference room.
The sixteen-year-old girl couldn’t miss the faint, inexplicable trace of worry on his face in the end.
The hours of the busy day slowly sank away beyond the car window.
"Uuu- I’m tired~ Kana-chan, today was so much fun! You acted so well that I felt completely at ease too, you know?"
"Th-thank you very much…!"
Riding in the van with the Kaoru-Ai couple, Kana blushed and bowed her head at Ai’s praise.
"I-I’m nervous. If I just sit here like this and don’t say anything, won’t the seniors feel uncomfortable? But if I start small talk on my own, that might cause misunderstandings about my image too…"
Awkwardness, tension, and countless worries about how to break the atmosphere made her fingers fidget on their own and her eyes dart busily around.
She wasn’t usually the type to get "nervous" like this, but honestly, no matter who was riding in this van, they’d never be able to let their guard down.
She was sharing a ride with the legendary "idol" known by everyone, and with the undisputed top actress who had also reached a perfect career high as an "actor."
Being cast by Director Taishi Gotanda and appearing in the same work as towering senior actors of the current age like Kamiki Kaoru and Yoshikawa Yuriko was, for Kana, like stepping into a whole new world.
"It feels like a dream."
That was why she was so excited. When President Rentarou told her she had been cast in [The Bird That Flies Through the Sky], she had screamed without realizing it because she was so happy.
She had thought no chance would ever come to her. But the fact that Director Gotanda had recognized her and given her such a priceless opportunity filled Kana with overwhelming pride as an "actor."
It had been a very long time since each day felt fun and happy, and since she looked forward so much to filming day.
Just as Kana was savoring her happiness and smiling to herself in her heart—
"……"
Ai, who had been silently and stiffly sitting ever since getting into the car, had kept staring at Kana.
Wanting to ease the tension of the girl one year older than Ruby, Ai thought of a good idea and smiled, hehe.
"Kana-chan. You’re thirsty, right? Drink this!"
"Th-thank you!"
Ai affectionately called her by the nickname "Kana-chan" and handed her a small plastic bottle filled with warm barley tea.
Moved by Ai’s consideration to help her relax, Kana accepted the bottle with both hands and thanked her, blushing.
Watching that from the passenger seat through the rearview mirror, Kaoru added to his wife’s kindness.
"You did really well at today’s script reading, Ms. Arima."
"Ah, t-thank you for the kind words!"
"Mm-hmm! Just like Kaoru said, Kana-chan did so well that I felt at ease too, so I could give it my 100 percent honestly! I learned a lot from you too!"
"Th-th-tha- thank you so much…!"
Ai’s sparkling praise, mercilessly smashing through Kana’s awkward tension and landing a direct hit, made Kana’s face turn red as a tomato.
Unlike her cool and fearless image, it highlighted the cute charm of a girl her age who was weak to praise.
"Hehe-★"
Ai was all smiles.
-
< [The Bird That Flies Through the Sky] starts filming… full-scale production begins >
< Interest in the Kaoru-Ai couple’s forbidden love is ‘burning hot’ >
< ‘Are they really a real-life couple?’ [The Bird That Flies Through the Sky] shows a shocking story! >
At last, filming for [The Bird That Flies Through the Sky] began. In step with that, the press also poured out article after article every day.
As filming began and the media reported the basic synopsis, the public was shocked in their own ways.
No one could have imagined that the entertainment industry’s representative married couple, famous in real life for their passionate love, would appear together in a work where they were acting out a "forbidden love"—that is, an affair.
< Director Taishi Gotanda’s dangerous challenge… is [The Bird That Flies Through the Sky] touching a social taboo? >
< Social norms, morality, and artistic freedom… what story will [The Bird That Flies Through the Sky] tell? >
< "Concern over glorifying adultery" People are ‘raising eyebrows’ at the provocative setup of the Kaoru-Ai couple in [The Bird That Flies Through the Sky] >
Some media outlets with clearly conservative leanings, along with concerns that this might be giving wings to the already rampant adultery trend in the entertainment world, also came to the surface.
- I’m insanely looking forward to this.
- Here we go again, the media stirring things up... just wait and see.
- What does it matter if Kamiki and Ai are actually married anyway?
- Sure, like they’re really immersed in the drama and not reality www
- Nah~ I’m not interested in cheating or whatever~ I have work tomorrow~
- (Comment deleted due to repeated reports)
ㄴ What the hell, man;
ㄴ Die!!!!!!!!!!
ㄴ -2.6 seconds-
- The show hasn’t even started yet, so let’s just wait and see
- If it’s Director Gotanda, there’s a 99.9% chance this won’t be a normal story.
- By the way, the director who personally wrote this drama’s script is still unmarried, just so you know www
ㄴ This bastard’s going to become a human film reel soon www
Even though filming had only just begun, the public complaints about people throwing salt before anything had even happened didn’t gain much traction.
Right now, if you went to any famous entertainment district in Tokyo, adulterous couples were everywhere, and since it was such a common and widespread subject in real life, voices also rose saying it was ridiculous to complain about it now, alongside voices urging everyone to wait and see.
Even before the broadcast, the buzz was already blazing hot, so the advertisers and companies that had sponsored it had no choice but to smile broadly.
"Ready-"
The historic moment when filming began at Tokyo International Airport.
Director Gotanda, staring seriously at the camera monitor, gave the cue.
"Action."
At Director Gotanda’s cue—
Kaoru, dressed neatly in a suit and wearing horn-rimmed glasses, dragged his carry-on bag and walked up to stand in front of the camera.
"……"
Among the bustling crowd, Kaoru’s tired blue eyes moved back and forth behind his rimless glasses.
All the passing pedestrians were extras, but because the camera was tightly focused in a close shot on Kaoru alone, it created a static sense of isolation, like a lone boat drifting on a vast ocean.
After staring at the camera for a moment, Kaoru opened his tightly closed lips and muttered in a voice as empty as dust,
"……Welcome to Tokyo."
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register