"My father was a cripple. He was the owner of a tiny neighborhood shop, and he dragged one leg around while trying to make a living somehow. As a child, I really hated that pathetic way he would bow and scrape before his clients."
"......"
Kaoru lowered his head politely, but with a faintly perceptible kind of "pathetic fury," and held his breath in silence.
Kunitmura Yoshihiro, the celebrated actor who had worked with Kaoru in Gotanda's independent film [My Sea], had been cast in this drama as Fukumoto Kenta, the chairman of the industry giant Fukumoto Group.
For the first time in years, Japan's top actors were meeting again and sharing the screen.
A suffocating tension flowed through the quiet set.
He was an upstanding, legendary businessman who had inherited the small company Fukumoto Trading from his father, a company that had once had only six employees, and turned it into a major corporation.
But Fukumoto Kenta was also a cold-blooded, ruthless man who was prepared to throw away every moral and ethical value except for "success," and whose past actions proved that resolve.
Yoshihiro, completely immersed in the role of a man without blood or tears, lifted his icy eyes and stared at Kaoru, who still had his head bowed.
"The force that moves people is [inferiority]. Without inferiority, people become stagnant water and rot. They can't struggle to change, and they can't fight to escape a reality that drags them into the mud."
"......"
"That seat you're sitting in. The suit you're wearing. Even my daughter, who welcomes you home when you get off work. Was there anything at all that wasn't touched by the influence of the Fukumoto Group?"
"......"
"If you're going to stand there stupidly even after feeling [inferiority], then submit your resignation cleanly. Surely you have at least that much courage."
"...I'm sorry. I will do everything I can to live up to your expectations, Chairman."
Humiliation, servility, and quiet rage.
For him, who had watched his father's company be helplessly taken away by the man in front of him, there was nothing else he could do.
For him, who by now was approaching the eighth anniversary of the day his father, blinded by greed, had finally hanged himself and taken his own life, there was nothing else he could do.
He could only bow his head and beg for one more chance.
"......"
"......"
A suffocating silence hung in the air, and a sharp gaze, as if pricking into his bowed head, could be felt.
With a flat expression, Kunimura flipped through the papers and glanced at Kaoru before saying, "You may leave now."
"...Yes."
Kaoru bowed his head again, biting his lip and clenching his fist tightly.
"Oh, right."
"...?"
Just as he was about to turn and leave, Yoshihiro said without taking his eyes off the documents.
"Even if work is busy, make sure you eat dinner with our Mami. That girl gets lonely easily."
For some reason, Yoshihiro's words felt like they were gouging at his heart, and Kaoru's brows and forehead twitched on their own.
Through his glasses.
His gaze, unconsciously, lost its destination for a moment and wandered as if chasing the empty air.
Gotanda narrowed his eyes sharply and focused on Kaoru's delicate emotional expression.
'He's thorough to the point of being flawless.'
The innate directing sense of the Kaoi couple was unmatched by any singer or actor.
In other words, they had the intelligence and meticulousness to calculate how to make themselves stand out more, how to shine before the camera and the public, and they knew how to use that.
Even Gotanda, who had built up a long friendship with them, was often surprised when filming their performances.
'He planned this weird one from the very beginning. The scenes with Aizawa Honoka...!'
They hadn't filmed it yet, but within the story's timeline, the meeting between Aizawa Honoka and Fukumoto Hiroki had already reached the stage of being "more than a connection, less than lovers."
It was a brief meeting, but they had vaguely sensed each other's [honestly], and enjoyed walking together along the riverbank.
Maybe the company people had spotted him and found out.
Or maybe—
Was it simply Fukumoto Hiroki's own anxious premonition?
Kaoru let out a startled breath, trying not to offend Yoshihiro's temper, but unable to fully gather it back in, then blinked rapidly for a moment.
He clenched his teeth, swallowed dryly, and bowed his head again.
"...Yes. I apologize for causing you concern, Father."
Even as the muscles in Kaoru's cheeks and neck stiffened with anxiety and tension, Yoshihiro's cold voice rang through the office as if he could see right through him.
"Remember this well. You are a member of Fukumoto, and the husband of my daughter."
To the point that the trembling fist turned yellow. Kaoru clenched his hands fiercely to hold back the surging anger, kept his head bowed, and answered in a small voice.
"...I will keep that in mind."
"Okay, good. You worked hard."
As Gotanda's satisfied cut call rang out, Kaoru's blue eyes immediately returned to their usual bluntness and turned toward Yoshihiro.
Yoshihiro, too, had shed the cold-bloodedness from a moment ago and returned to his usual good-natured, drink-loving self, giving a thumbs-up.
At the dignified thumbs-up of a man exactly the age to do such a thing, Kaoru let out a faint smile and bowed his head.
"Thank you for your hard work, senior."
"You worked hard too, Kaoru. I was nervous myself. I was sweating buckets. Hahaha!"
"Haha. Not at all."
Before long, Yoshihiro came up beside him, patted Kaoru's shoulder familiarly, and laughed heartily.
To a junior genius who was already equipped with both skill and humility despite being young enough to be his youngest son, there was no distance left at all.
"We didn't really have many scenes we shot directly together after the script reading, did we? It's been years since [My Sea]. Of course I'd be thirsty."
"Come to think of it, this is the first time you've had such a long face-to-face scene with me, senior."
"Exactly. I bragged to my wife about it this morning, and she said to me, 'I'm glad you won't be used as a waterbed this time, right?' Hahaha~ Seriously. You can't beat her with words."
Water, waterbed....
Was he talking about the ending scene of [My Sea], where Kaoru sat on top of his much older senior Yoshihiro and smoked a cigarette?!
Kaoru couldn't bring himself to join in Yoshihiro's joke and only gave an awkward laugh.
"Excuse me for interrupting, Kamiki-san. The director said we're moving straight into the next scene."
When the youngest AD approached cautiously and spoke, Kaoru and Yoshihiro both nodded.
"Yes. I'll be going, senior."
"Good... I'm heading out now, so do your best."
"Thank you. Please take care, senior."
Yoshihiro was guided by staff toward the dressing room, and Kaoru, pushing up his glasses with his right hand, soon set off as well.
-
The wide, straight corridor reached after leaving the set used as the office.
Since they had rented a high-rise building in Minato Ward, where the actual corporate headquarters was located, as the filming location, sunlight poured in through the large glass windows, and the Tokyo skyline spread out before them at a glance.
Unlike the warm sunlight, the corridor was filled with taut tension.
Mizutani Shigeru, the actor playing Yamazaki Takeru, Mami Fukumoto's former college classmate and lover, and the deputy head of strategic planning at the Fukumoto Group.
With sharp, clean features, a broad, solid, sportsman-like face, and a large, well-built body that looked as if he had trained regularly, he radiated pressure even in a suit.
His real height was about 183 cm, almost the same as Kaoru's, but because Gotanda had ordered him to wear lifts in his shoes, he now stood taller and looked down at Kaoru.
From the camera placement to the arrangement that exaggerated the difference in their builds, and with the depth of field in the background heightened as if to provoke Kaoru's discomfort...
"Hah, you should try a little harder. You're supposed to be a branch manager, after all. The chairman had high expectations, and he's more disappointed than I can say."
"......"
As soon as he came out of the office, Fukumoto Hiroki ran into Yamazaki Takeru on his way in.
A man favored by the chairman for his excellent work ability and his bold, confident personality, and also Mami Fukumoto's college classmate and campus boyfriend.
He looked at Fukumoto Hiroki, who was treated as an outsider in the Fukumoto Group despite being the son-in-law of the youngest daughter, and let out a sneering smile.
Then he put his hands in his trouser pockets, tapped the corner of the approval clipboard against his left shoulder, and said, "That's because when performance drops and the chairman gets annoyed, we're the first ones to take the hit, Branch Manager Fukumoto Hiroki."
"...."
"You know the chairman's style well enough, don't you? When that cold wind starts blowing and we go into that office over there, we freeze to death."
"...The person who should be reporting branch sales is the chairman inside, not you, Deputy Head."
"Oh. Is that so? Our Branch Manager Fukumoto Hiroki is an outsider anyway, so... it doesn't matter to you?"
When Shigeru shot back with a mocking tone, Kaoru's blue eyes, where his weakness had just been gouged open, trembled violently for a moment.
One step.
With Kaoru striding forward one step, the atmosphere turned explosive.
The distance between the two narrowed to the point where their breaths could touch, and Kaoru, after steadying his ragged breathing once more, glared at Shigeru.
"This is a company. Mind your line."
"......"
In those cool, brilliantly shining blue eyes were inferiority, fear, and hatred toward Shigeru.
Kaoru's voice, spat out as if chewing and biting down on his anger and indignation, echoed through the empty corridor.
But Shigeru, who sensed instinctively that Kaoru was cornered inside, like a hedgehog raising its spines or a rat pressed into a corner throwing a fit, did not answer.
Instead, he let out a snort and looked down at Kaoru with a cruel gaze devoid of any light, then said, "Do as you like. Oh, I have to go report too. Excuse me."
Smack!
As if he were just brushing past an object, Shigeru bumped Kaoru's shoulder and walked forward.
Kaoru clenched his teeth so hard from the shame and humiliation washing over him that the muscles in his jaw and neck tightened.
His gaze shook uneasily behind his glasses, and his face was twisted beyond recognition.
The suicide of a close friend, the approaching anniversary of his father's death, the obsession with reclaiming the company stolen by his enemy of a father-in-law, the disgrace of having to pretend not to know that his wife, a relationship in name only, was fooling around with this bastard, and the gradually fading standing of the Fukumoto Group and within the family.
In this brutal, suffocating reality that was tightening around his throat, Kaoru panted harshly as if thrashing in a swamp.
Only after his breathing finally settled did he raise a trembling hand to adjust his glasses again and weakly sweep back his disheveled bangs—
"Okay, cut!"
Gotanda's satisfied voice rang through the corridor, and Kaoru, having stepped out of the performance as if nothing had happened, regained his usual indifference and nodded.
"Thank you for your hard work."
And then—
As soon as Gotanda's cut call was heard again.
"Senior! Thank you for your hard work!!!!"
"Ah, ...yes."
Mizutani Shigeru hurried over to Kaoru and bowed with a bright smile that seemed to boast of his especially white teeth.
It was such an overwhelmingly intense greeting that it was hard to believe this was the same man who had just played that rude character.
Of course, there was no reason to think badly of an actor who had a good attitude and demeanor as an actor, so Kaoru also bowed back with a faint smile.
Shigeru, receiving Kaoru's return greeting with a deep bow of his own, quickly twisted off the cap of a bottle of mineral water and carefully handed it over with both hands.
"Senior. You're thirsty, right? Please drink!"
"Ah. Thank you. You should have some too, Mizutani-san."
"Oh no, please speak casually. You're my senior by a lot..."
Mizutani Shigeru was two years older than Kaoru, but his debut had come much later.
He had originally been a semi-professional track-and-field athlete affiliated with a university until his first year of college, then quit because of an injury and, after graduating, entered a company and worked there.
Then, by chance, he caught the eye of a modeling agency, became a model, and later transitioned into acting—a rather eventful career story.
He had plenty of passion for learning, and after starting acting he threw himself into every role from bit parts to supporting roles, growing steadily until, a year ago at a drama awards ceremony, he achieved the feat of winning the rookie award at the relatively late age of his early thirties.
And...
"No. We're both [actors], aren't we? And you're older than me, so I don't really care about things like debut history or anything like that."
"T-thank you... You really are... so broad-minded..."
At the sight of the sportsman-like handsome man's eyes welling with moved tears in such a very cute(?) way, Kaoru's blue eyes, which had gone stern without him realizing it, wavered for a moment, unsure where to go.
But the moment he spotted Gotanda behind Shigeru, grinning with a sneaky smile, Kaoru instantly recovered his usual indifferent poker face as if nothing had happened.
Whether he knew it or not, Shigeru carefully—shyly, like a high school girl preparing for a confession—took a fan and a permanent marker out of his suit jacket pocket.
"I-I, um... senpai, I'm terribly sorry and I know this is a bother, but if it's not too much trouble, could I ask you to sign this goo, goods...?"
"Yes. There's no reason I can't. Give it here."
"Sniff, thank you so much!!! Senior!!! I'll work hard!!!"
Shigeru carefully held out a fan printed with Kaoru's face and a permanent marker, like a high school girl handing over chocolate on Valentine's Day.
Kaoru put the 500 ml bottle of water into his inner jacket pocket, and with the fan he received, he personally wrote not only his autograph but also the message, "It was a pleasure filming together today."
At Kaoru's consideration, Shigeru's muscles bulged and his eyes sparkled.
"Waaah. Thank you so much, senior!!!"
With the kind of enthusiasm that made it seem as if he would treasure it forever as a family heirloom, Kaoru gave an awkward smile and nodded lightly.
In fact, Shigeru had become a huge fan and otaku, having stated in official interviews and on social media that he had switched to acting after watching Kaoru's performances.
And Shigeru's wife, though just an ordinary office worker, was also an enormous fan and otaku of Ai—
After the attack, at the press conference, the footage of Shigeru's wife, who had even wrapped a headband-style piece of merch around herself while being interviewed by the broadcaster that had come to cover it, became a huge sensation online.
'The first president of the Saitama branch fan club of B Komachi... that's what she said.'
Remembering once again that the couple were each enormous otaku of himself and his wife, Kaoru began to suspect that maybe Gotanda had cast them with this kind of thing in mind.
"......"
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
At Kaoru's gaze, Gotanda said this while tapping the rolled-up script against his neck.
That's suspicious.
That unique, cynical way of speaking so casually and without a care lit a fire of suspicion in Kaoru's mind.
Of course, Gotanda was the kind of person who absolutely could do something like that.
But paying attention to a hypothesis without any concrete evidence was the worst move of all.
To avoid getting dragged into Gotanda's artistic madness—now beyond mere oddball weirdness and probably unmatched among domestic directors—Kaoru shook his head and said indifferently, "No, not at all."
"Ah, Director! Thank you for your hard work!"
Only then did Shigeru notice that Gotanda was behind him, and he quickly turned around and executed a 90-degree folder bow.
At Shigeru's extremely respectful bow, now that he had become a giant over 190 cm tall thanks to the height-increasing insoles and shoe heels,
"Haha... good work."
Gotanda felt like he was the head of a violent organization, but he didn't show it and smoothly accepted the greeting with a "public-facing smile."
Patting Shigeru's shoulder, Gotanda said to Kaoru, "Tell Ai to get mentally prepared soon. The filming of 'that scene' is coming up."
"......"
At Gotanda's meaningful remark, Kaoru quietly nodded and pushed up his horn-rimmed glasses.
In effect, it was the very scene Ai had been waiting for with bated breath.
The very scene that had made this drama possible.
The highlight of the drama, the crowning touch, the essence containing all of Gotanda's desire and pathos!
"You two, make sure you brush your teeth thoroughly before coming back."
At Gotanda's sly words, delivered with a leering grin and an insinuating tone, Kaoru's poker face, solid as a diamond, cracked for an instant.
Kaoru steadied his trembling brows, glanced once at Shigeru, who was tilting his head and failing to follow the conversation at all, and then said to Gotanda again, "I'll be heading out now."
"Yeah. Send my regards to Ai~"
"...You can tell her yourself on set tomorrow."
Kaoru, deliberately pointing out that Ai's shoot was scheduled for tomorrow anyway, exchanged a smile with Shigeru and set off on his way home.
Watching him go, Gotanda tapped the rolled-up script against his shoulder and muttered with a satisfied grin, "Hmph, pretending not to be excited when you're clearly looking forward to it."
"Huh?"
Still unable to follow the conversation, Shigeru asked blankly, and Gotanda shook his head and said in his usual cynical voice, "No matter. Let's get back to filming. We still have our own work to do."
"Ah, yes, sir!"
'Oddballs' recognize other 'oddballs.'
You're not the only ones looking forward to it.
Gotanda swallowed the words that rose to his throat and hurried back toward the set.
-
< [Inside Cut] Three Stars Appear in Front of a Five-Star Hotel >
-〔 ▶ Hoshino Ai & Kamiki Kaoru, and immediately to the right, Yoshikawa Yuriko talking with Director Gotanda Taishi 〕
〔 ▶ Morning of the 28th. A hotel employee is making a surprised face outside the line of the [Bird in a Cage] filming set. 〕
◆ Senjuro Daily Entertainment Desk / Reporter Sato Nao
-
Saturday lunch!
Ruby, after Ai and Kaoru left the house early in the morning for filming, had eaten a delicious lunch with her beloved older brother and younger siblings.
Sitting on the sofa, resting her head against her brother's shoulder and rubbing against him.
With little Amber sitting on her lap while they watched television together, it was the happiest moment!
Aqua had little sister Ame's head resting on his lap, but that was fine.
Uh, uh, of course, as an older sister it was only natural to give up her brother's lap to her younger sibling!
Anyway, she could just hug and rub against him far more than if she were lying with her head on his lap.
"Hmph~ Huuuh~ Hmph~☆"
With Amber, who could now walk, sitting on her lap, and little Ame beside her, Ruby was watching TV together with her brother in a cozy, happy little cluster when a thought suddenly flashed through her mind.
'This is... just like a bu—'
Ping—
Ping—ping—ping—
Ping—
"Eh?"
"?"
"What?"
As Line messages arrived all at once on Ruby's smartphone, Aqua and Ame both turned their attention to it.
Why would messages suddenly come flooding in at this hour?
Ruby, blinking her bright red, star-like eyes, quickly picked up her smartphone and checked Line.
-----------------
< Momochan☆ >
- Rujang, what is this, whaaat whaaat whaaat whaaat!
(An emoji of a cute hamster with an enormous exclamation mark above its head)
- [Link]
< [Inside Cut] Three Stars Appear in Front of a Five-Star Hotel >
- H-h-h-holy crap!? R-right!? Ruby's parents are really doing the "real-life bO" thing, right!?
(An emoji of a cute hamster rocketing into the sky in a frenzy)
-----------------
"Huh-"
"It's already blowing up."
Aqua, lowering his head slightly to check his younger sister's Line messages, muttered with a laugh.
Not only Momochan, but all of Ruby's other friends were sending her the same article link and throwing themselves into a frenzy.
She couldn't quite tell whether she should laugh or panic and say, 'You can't do that!' but...
"Eeeek— Mama, she's so cuteee♡"
Seeing Mama in the photo attached to the article made all of that irrelevant.
Ruby remembered the expression on Mama's face last night when she had been brushing her teeth, all excited at the thought of filming the "chu~♥" scene with Papa!
They kiss Papa every day at home, but did a kiss in a drama shoot have a different kind of charm?
At an age when she was very much interested in love, Ruby glanced sideways at her brother, who was staring intently at the smartphone screen beside her.
With his handsome face, so much like Papa's, he looked a little indifferent and cold, but toward his younger siblings—especially toward Ruby, who shared secrets with him—he showed his natural kindness without holding anything back.
In her past life and in this life. Always unchanged, the kind and wonderful [adult—teacher] who protected Ruby from beside her.
"......"
If someday the chance came, for [acting], she and her brother too...
"I want to see too!"
Ame, who had been sitting on her brother's lap, suddenly stood up and made her starry eyes sparkle.
Ruby, who had been lost in thought for a moment at her younger sister's cry of curiosity, jumped and said, "Y-yeah!? Oh, okay. Big sis was go— right! Ame, you can't just send a bunch of messages to your homeroom teacher like last time, okay?"
"Hehe— I know~, big sis!"
"What about me?"
"Hehe, of course I'll share the link with you too, big brother."
Ruby quickly shared the article link with Aqua and Ame.
"Nnng—"
"No! It's too early for Amber to touch it!"
She swiftly dodged the tiny little hand Amber stretched toward the smartphone, and with lightning speed moved both thumbs to send a reply thanking them for sharing it.
Ruby gently touched her slightly reddened cheeks and smiled shyly.
Toward their parents on the screen, who were holding hands and unable to look away from each other for even a moment, just as they had always been since long ago.
-
"What is it?"
Yuriko's cold voice shot toward Kaoru like a dagger and stabbed into him.
"Is she someone you know?"
At her icy question.
"......"
Kaoru too.
"......"
Ai too.
Neither of them could say a word, only fixed their violently trembling eyes on each other.
The atmosphere was so bewildering that there was no time to even think of hiding it, no time to even think of making an excuse, and it burst out between the two of them as if locking together.
"I'm asking if you know her. Right now."
At the irritated pressing, Kaoru's Adam's apple bobbed dangerously as he swallowed a dry, tense gulp.
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