" …… "
Though it was only acting, Yuriko, who had taken Kaoru’s completely transformed, cold gaze head-on, swallowed dryly with the feeling that her heart had dropped.
It was only because she was a veteran actress that she could take it in stride without showing it; younger actors would have lost their immersion and failed to deliver proper emotional acting.
"This is the first time I’ve played the wife of a Kamiki, and the first time I’ve ever splashed water on his face. Honestly, that kind of title is... a little intimidating."
The reason she splashed water on Kaoru’s face was because he was the son-in-law of the head of the Fukumoto Group and the husband of the Fukumoto Mami she was playing, Fukumoto Hiroki.
In other words—
"Act your station. Don’t even think about testing my patience with whatever scraps of affection you still have left for me."
"What did you say?"
As if it were nothing, Yuriko shot back in a cold voice, folding her arms and glaring at Kaoru.
"Do you really think what happened to your family, and your father’s suicide, was all my father’s doing? Are you seriously thinking straight?
Why are you clinging to us like a brat, driven insane by ridiculous paranoia? When you run a company, is it really that rare for a major shareholder to show up threatening management control?"
"Mami!"
Kaoru’s furious shout echoed through the large, darkened house.
But Yuriko, perfectly immersed in the role of Fukumoto Mami, the daughter of someone who had ruled over others all her life, paid it no mind and continued.
"Don’t raise your voice. H-Hiroki. Think about it. Even in our group, if three or four people in the family decide to turn their backs on us for their own reasons, it turns into war immediately. Every day is walking on thin ice, you know?
If we took over a company that was already going under, shouldn’t you be grateful to my father instead? How many lives has he saved?"
Clack-clack
Inside Kaoru’s mouth, as he held back his rage, came the chilling sound of his teeth grinding.
A cold-blooded man who rules over others, yet never once looks down at the suffering and sorrow of those beneath him.
That was Fukumoto Mami, demanding gratitude without even blinking.
"……"
Director Gotanda stared intently at the breathtaking performance of the two actors, a different kind of tension from the masterpiece Ai had shown yesterday rising in the air.
The charisma of actors so completely immersed in the characters from their breathing alone can even perfectly control the atmosphere that dominates a space.
As proof of that, everyone around them, including the cinematographer staring at the camera, was focused entirely on the extreme suspense Kamiki Kaoru and Yoshikawa Yuriko were creating.
So much so that they had forgotten even to breathe.
"Even I’m hesitating to call cut."
Just a moment ago, right after being splashed with water, Yuriko’s momentum had been shaken by Kaoru’s eye acting.
But the courage and experience of a top-tier actress instead took that and made it even more mature, bringing the proud, lofty, domineering character of Fukumoto Mami into sharper focus.
The meticulous, tightly woven [sincerity] Ai had shown yesterday. And today, the bold [sincerity] Yuriko brought out in her acting with Kaoru.
To be able to capture the best acting on film two days in a row made him more than satisfied, both as a director and producer, and as an artist.
"...Am I actually the luckiest one here?"
Director Gotanda murmured to himself, the corners of his mouth curling slightly.
Then he immediately took off his headphones, stood up from his chair, and called out in his usual cynical voice.
"Okay. Cut. You both worked hard."
As soon as Director Gotanda’s cut signal fell, both Kaoru and Yuriko stepped out of character at the same time and released the emotions they had been holding in.
Yuriko, the moment cut was called, hurriedly pulled out a whole stack of tissues from the side and handed them to Kaoru, looking flustered.
"S-sorry. Kamiki-san. I think I splashed the water too hard."
"It’s fine. It didn’t hit me that hard. Haha."
Kaoru accepted the tissues and smiled as if it were nothing, but that was a lie.
Because Yuriko’s critical hit had sent water straight up his nose—
Kaoru had been in so much pain it reminded him of the brutal water-torture training in the building at 415 West 71st Street in his past life.
If he hadn’t been used to enduring and controlling pain, he would have clutched his nose and NG’d the moment the water hit him.
Kaoru realized that Yuriko’s hand was pretty sharp too, just like his wife Ai and the close senior actress Satomi Aragaki he had worked with before, and he even started to believe that the leading actresses of this era had something special.
As Kaoru wiped his face and shirt with the towel handed over by a staff member, Director Gotanda slipped over and patted his shoulder.
"Good work, Kaoru. That was your first time getting hit with water, right?"
"Yes. It was my first time, but... it’s refreshing. Kind of fun."
After wiping off the moisture and brushing his bangs back, Kaoru gave a relaxed smile, and Director Gotanda scratched the back of his head with a cough.
"Honestly, it was my selfish idea, but I didn’t expect you to agree so readily. Thanks to that, we got a great shot."
Originally, there had been no scene in the script where Kaoru got splashed with water.
Right before filming, after finishing the camera rehearsal, Director Gotanda had been troubled by the fact that there wasn’t enough to convey the relationship between Fukumoto Mami and Fukumoto Hiroki in an impactful way.
Kaoru, remembering how Ai had once been surprised while watching a woman get splashed with water in a Korean daily drama on YouTube Shorts, talked it over with Director Gotanda and suggested they try adding it in.
And as a result, Yuriko ended up getting drenched.
Yuriko, who had been listening to their conversation from the side, smiled faintly and said,
"I’m the one who’s in trouble, Director."
"What? What do you mean by—"
"I’m the first person to splash water on Kamiki-san’s face, aren’t I?"
"……"
At her joke, Director Gotanda’s eyes lost their destination for a moment.
Even for her, playing the once-in-a-generation villain Fukumoto Mami, the revision to splash water on Kaoru’s face had been something she had to think about for a moment.
Of course, the result was exactly the image the director wanted, and as an actress she had delivered a great performance, so her satisfaction was very high.
Yuriko covered her mouth and laughed softly, then said to Kaoru, who was wiping off the water and getting his makeup touched up by the staff,
"Come to think of it... I think I’ve taken too many of Kamiki-san’s ‘firsts.’"
"……Haha."
At Yuriko’s teasing voice, Kaoru deliberately looked away from her and only gave an awkward laugh, saying nothing else.
Anyone hearing that would seriously misunderstand. If there was any silver lining, it was that his wife wasn’t here.
But Yuriko didn’t miss the embarrassment and awkwardness in Kaoru’s laugh, and drove the point home with a look that said she knew exactly what she was doing.
"If your wife found out, she might get pretty jealous of me."
At Kaoru’s very honest reaction, Yuriko giggled as if she had just discovered something amusing.
But regardless of Yuriko’s reaction, Kaoru’s blue eyes, like Director Gotanda’s, lost their place for a moment and wavered.
"It’s a relief there’s no kiss scene, if anything."
Thinking of his wife’s star-bright eyes turning sharp, Kaoru felt a chill run down his spine and quietly closed his eyes while his makeup was fixed.
-
A few days later, on the weekend.
Trying to calm her pounding heart and swallowing hard against her nerves, Arima Kana slowly took a deep breath.
Ever since her debut as a child actress, she had appeared in countless productions and been praised for her mature, high-level acting skills that didn’t seem fit for her age.
But she had never been this nervous before.
Her strong pride and self-respect, and her uncompromising attitude toward [acting], had never changed for a single moment since her debut.
But she had never been this nervous before. Never.
"Hoo."
I can do this. Kana repeated it to herself, soothing and steadying her own heart.
As always, she would prove it again this time too.
"I’m going to show them."
At last, the red eyes full of courage shone brilliantly.
Though she was small, Kana stepped into the hallway of the tiny apartment with a proud, confident stride, bowed politely to the staff, and said,
"I’m Arima Kana from [Stani-On]! I’ll be in your care today!"
With bold determination and a swelling sense of resolve, Kana was standing in a firm ready position when a voice from behind shattered her iron wall in plain view.
"Hee~★ Kana-chan is here~?"
Startled, Kana turned toward the voice, and a pair of brilliant star-bright eyes filled her vision.
With a straw in her mouth, stuck into a sweet bubble tea, and sending her signature wink cutely—
the greeting from the "invincible idol" who called her affectionately by the nickname "our Kana-chan."
"S-senpai! H-hello!!!"
Kana’s face turned bright red, as if it might burst, at the unexpected situation.
The ironclad [actor mode] was nowhere to be found; Kana could do nothing but greet Ai, who casually linked arms with her and smiled with starlight in her eyes.
Ai approached Kana with not even 1 cm of distance, in her usual extreme my-pace style!
Ai was so happy and excited to be playing mother and daughter with Kana, who was cute and adorable like Ruby!
Not hiding it, and pouring out her own version of [sincerity] to make sure Kana wouldn’t get nervous, that was what Ai was doing!
"Huh? Kana-chan, your face is super red?"
"T-that’s... I, um..."
"Hee~ Today’s the first shoot, so... maybe Kana-chan is super fluttery too?"
At Ai’s fresh, star-bright smile, Kana’s eyes spun as she searched for how to respond.
Honestly, it was way too overwhelming, but the warm, friendly smile of her senior wasn’t something she disliked either—
on the contrary, it seemed to ease her nerves, yet somehow her heart was still thumping—
and she was also worrying whether she could keep her emotional line intact once filming started—
the emotions of the [actor] and of [herself] collided, leaving her face hot and flushed while she couldn’t manage to come up with even a single proper answer.
Who would have thought she’d spend this long trying to answer a question about whether her face was red—
"Oh, you’re here."
A savior appeared to rescue Kana from her predicament.
Director Gotanda, as always, walked over with the shooting cue sheet rolled up in his hand, tapping Kana’s stiff shoulder, and let out an admiring "Ohh—" as he looked at the two women who would be playing mother and daughter.
"Already practicing for the real thing?"
"Hello, Director! I’ll be in your care today!"
"Yes~ I will too~★"
"……"
Director Gotanda could immediately understand why Kana was so flustered.
But Kana didn’t seem to dislike it either, and above all, since these two were going to play mother and daughter, he decided to pretend not to notice as much as possible.
Looking at Ai, who smiled sweetly at Kana, and Kana, who gave Ai an awkward but bright smile, Director Gotanda pointed toward the apartment that would serve as the set and said,
"The scenes we’re shooting today are much lighter, everyday scenes compared to the ones we’ll do later. Neither of you needs to be too heavy. Get ready."
"Yes!"
"Yes~ Director, then I’ll head to makeup now~ Come on, Kana-chan."
"Eh— ah, yes!"
Watching Ai’s back as she led Kana to the makeup room as if she were Ruby, Director Gotanda let out a snort and his usual indifferent laugh.
*
The [Ai] that Kana would be playing was the one and only precious daughter of [Aizawa Honoka].
At 14, a second-year middle school student, Yui was like Honoka in that she was affectionate, considerate, unspoiled, and gentle-hearted, but unlike her mother, who had a certain fragility within her kindness, she had a clear, decisive strength.
Her relationship with her mother was excellent, her grades were good, and her social life was too. To Honoka, this wonderful daughter was a precious treasure beyond anything in the world.
To perfectly portray [Aizawa Yui], who spent ordinary days with the mother she loved, Kana slowly took a deep breath and gathered her emotions.
"Let’s remember."
The faint love her mother, who had gone back to the countryside, once gave her—
"Ready—"
After changing into the comfortable everyday clothes worn by [Aizawa Honoka], Ai stared intently at Kana, who was skillfully drawing up her emotions at Director Gotanda’s ready signal.
As always, even though she was only a year older than Ruby, the red-haired girl in front of her was acting with such maturity, like a true professional child actress.
"……"
But the more Ai looked at Kana’s professional sincerity, the more she realized that both a mother’s pride and a mother’s ache were spilling out together.
Why was that?
Why did she feel so drawn to this child actress, only a year older than Ruby, who worked so hard?
Was it simply because she was the partner playing mother and daughter with her? Or because she was a child actress from the same agency as Kaoru? Or because Ai had always found her acting memorable and it had stayed in her mind?
Various words Kaoru had once spoken in the car about the ‘impression’ he had felt when he met Kana’s mother rose up in Ai’s memory and scattered away.
"How do I make this moment stay in Kana-chan’s memory as a happy one?"
At the same time as the shoot signal came down, to Kana, who would be her daughter for this limited stretch of time—
to this [girl], who she would make such beautiful, happy memories with before sending her away from her arms in tears before long—
Ai, her star-bright eyes flashing with a new color, decided to open her heart with all her [sincerity].
"Action!"
When Director Gotanda called action, both Ai and Kana slipped into character at the same time.
Though it was a cramped living room, the affectionate mother and daughter didn’t mind as they folded laundry together and chatted quietly.
"Mom~ How’s the towel I folded? I did a good job, right?"
Kana, who had put more effort into it than she usually did at home, showed Ai the towel she had neatly folded into a rectangle.
Surprised by Kana’s skill, Ai clapped and smiled.
"Wow~ Yui’s skill is even better than Mom’s now?"
"Oh, it’s nothing! Hehe, just leave it to me~"
Apparently so pleased by her mother’s praise, Kana lifted her shoulders and hummed as she stacked the folded towels neatly.
Ai quietly watched her lovable daughter, who was so precious it would hurt to put her in her eyes, and then gently folded the school blouse in her hands.
"……"
Director Gotanda felt it. And he realized it.
The many emotions that had flashed through Ai’s eyes in that instant.
That the feeling a mother naturally comes to know and understand over the course of living as a [mother] was being fully poured out toward Kana.
Even the tiny details he himself had not been able to direct, because he had never been a parent.
Ai’s star-bright eyes held all of those emotions and feelings.
"How does it feel to be in second year, Yui? Are your new friends nice?"
Carefully folding the school blouse so it wouldn’t wrinkle, Ai asked her daughter.
Kana smiled and nodded.
"Yeah. It’s fun! I’m glad some of the friends from my old class moved up with me too, more than I expected. I think my homeroom teacher is nice too."
"Hehe, that’s a relief. Mom is happy that Yui’s growing up healthy and strong."
"Hehe."
She was grateful and proud that her daughter, raised in a single-parent home, had grown up bright and unspoiled.
She had done her best, working hard so her daughter wouldn’t feel the absence of a biological father she had never even seen.
Though their circumstances were lacking, she had tried her best to dress her daughter well and feed her good food.
Honoka’s love, Honoka’s efforts—Yui had already known them since she was little—
"Yeah, being born as Mom’s daughter makes me the happiest person in the world, you know? Living together like this, sleeping with Mom too. My friends are jealous."
"Eh? Really?"
"Yeah! Really!"
" …… "
Ai looked for a moment at Kana’s clear, shining red eyes.
At Ai’s behavior of staring at her silently without speaking her line, Kana panicked inwardly.
Even though Kana’s feelings had raced far ahead of Yui’s feelings toward her mother, Ai—
after staring at Kana for a moment—
"Hehe, Mom will smile even more for Yui. I’ll be even happier for Yui."
At Ai’s gentle hand stroking her head, a line not in the script, Kana forgot her line for a moment and just stared blankly at Ai.
The gentle weight on her head, the warm body heat, the hand soothing her heart.
The touch of a [mother], from a time so long ago she couldn’t even remember it, returned now, in this very moment at sixteen, and Kana’s mind went completely blank.
But—
"I don’t hate it."
Kana didn’t hate it. She wasn’t flustered. The warm heart of [Aizawa Honoka] that the script couldn’t express.
She absolutely didn’t want to reject it.
Without even realizing it, Kana, instead of reciting the lines she had memorized, smiled brightly with all her [sincerity] as Ai’s hand touched her.
"Yeah. It’s a promise."
Director Gotanda, watching the two actresses on the monitor where a few lines of dialogue should have remained, quietly took off his headphones.
[Acting] was originally this. Simple and clear.
The power to make [lies] believed as [truth].
The heartfelt, mutual family love between the two mother and daughter—
was more deeply connected to that very [essence] than the few lines he had written after staying up for several nights.
Director Gotanda accepted the happy reality of having no choice but to acknowledge that twisted [truth], and stood up from his chair.
"Cut. That was good."
At Director Gotanda’s cut signal, Kana came out of her immersion and returned to normal.
But the warm touch Ai had left on her head felt like a faint mark, etched deeply into her heart.
Even though she had returned to being the actress Arima Kana, not Aizawa Yui.
"You did well, Kana-chan."
When she lifted her head, Ai’s smile filled her vision, her star-bright eyes sparkling as they looked at her.
A brilliance and aura completely different from when she was acting as Aizawa Honoka.
"...Aqua-kun is a lot like his mother too."
Aqua’s blue eyes resembled his father’s, but the many layers of gentleness hidden in his indifference resembled his mother.
Brushing away the frivolous thought that had just crossed her mind, Kana glanced toward Director Gotanda and quickly bowed her head.
"Th-thank you very much!"
Kana bit her lip slightly.
She should have delivered the lines exactly as written, but as a child actress she had nearly blown the whole scene with an improvised ad-lib she hadn’t discussed beforehand.
She had to become one with the emotion, but not be swallowed by it—that unwritten rule came to mind.
If Director Gotanda hadn’t called okay, the whole scene might have—
"Kana-chan’s acting was sooo good!"
"I-I’m really grateful you’d say that..."
"Huh? I’m not lying."
At Kana’s shy, modest voice, Ai instead clenched both fists and said,
"You know what? I’m so happy because I get to act every day with a happy heart! The time I spent working with Kana-chan was so happy too."
"……"
Ai gently took Kana’s small, white hand in hers and said to her,
"Was Kana-chan happy too?"
The question was whether she had been happy.
Kana looked at the warmth of Ai’s hand holding hers.
There was no doubt about it.
This warmth was the same warmth she had felt when [Aizawa Honoka] stroked her head.
It hadn’t changed.
Ai’s warmth was still warming Kana’s hand even now, after the cut signal had ended.
Not the long-lost touch from some distant, unremembered past, but the warmth of this very moment newly overwrote Kana’s memories.
"Yes... I’m happy. Puhuhu—"
Blushing, Kana soon let out a soft laugh and said it.
Not the professional child actress Arima Kana—
but the bright smile of the still-young sixteen-year-old girl Arima Kana was finally reflected in Ai’s eyes as well.
"Heheh-★"
Ai smiled back at her.
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