Third-person: Hoshino Aqua
Arima Kana's expression turned quite strange upon hearing Aqua's statement about applying for the General Department.
"I only put myself here because my sister Ruby is aiming for the Performing Arts Course, and I was worried about her."
At Aqua's siscon-like remark, Kana couldn't hide her disbelief.
"Whaaat!?"
"That's right, our brother is a siscon."
"Gross!?"
"I never liked this person from the start."
"But Ruby, if you get into the Performing Arts Course, you'll become my junior, right?"
"Ehh~?"
Watching Aqua and Ruby talk so loudly that anyone could hear, Arima Kana sighed.
"Everyone can hear you, you know?"
Ruby made a helpless expression.
"Sigh... I guess I have no choice but to get along with you, loli-senior."
"You're really bullying me!?"
Aqua, unsure if their relationship was good or bad, decided to leave first.
"Well, I'm going to see the Director now."
"Okay."
"Wait!?"
Ruby watched Aqua walk away and headed in the opposite direction, while Kana followed Aqua's retreating figure.
"Hey!! Where are you going!? Who's this Director!?"
"Where do you live now!?"
"Which middle school did you go to!!"
Watching Arima Kana diligently follow him while shouting questions like a third-rate delinquent, Aqua sighed internally.
What kind of delinquent are you?
"So, how long are you planning to follow me?" Aqua asked directly.
"Until you answer all my questions!! More importantly, are you still acting?"
"No, not right now."
"What..."
Surprised by Aqua's answer, Kana's face filled with confusion, which quickly turned into disappointment.
"I see..."
"Well, that's how it turned out."
Aqua was about to continue to Director Gotanda Taishi's house, but...
"Hey!? W-wait, let's talk!! How about going to karaoke now!?"
"No."
"Uh... then my place?"
"Why is your way of closing the distance so weird?"
Arima Kana's words, which would be 100% misunderstood by anyone listening, made Aqua run a hand through his hair as if he had a headache.
Seeing Aqua's reaction, Arima Kana's face turned red, but she defended herself.
"What else can I do!? I'm an entertainer, even if I look like this!! I can't just suggest going to a café! Places with private rooms aren't open at this time..."
"Ah, I see... then."
In the end, Aqua took Arima Kana along to the Director's house.
Upon arriving:
"Oh, Arima Kana! You've grown a lot since I last saw you!"
Director Gotanda Taishi's innocent comment felt like a stab to Kana's chest, reminding her of her faded glory, but she quickly shook off the unintentional pain.
"No... well... I'm still working... compared to my child actor days, it's a bit..."
Recovering quickly, Arima Kana looked around the Director's room.
"Aqua! If you're not acting, why are you hanging around the Director's place!? Are you secretly training as an actor!?"
She spoke with a slightly hopeful tone.
"I've done some acting, but I'm more like an assistant to the Director, aiming for a staff role."
"I see."
Arima Kana's voice sounded disappointed again at Aqua's definitive answer. But upon seeing the hundreds of video tapes in the room, she softened.
"Still, I'm glad... you're still in this industry..."
"Yeah."
I have no intention of leaving this industry yet. At least not until I catch the definite culprit.
After some work was done, they all had dinner together.
"Should I give you another bowl!?"
Director Taishi's mother tried to offer Arima Kana more rice.
"Ah, no thanks."
"If you don't eat, you won't grow!"
"I'm managing my carbs..."
Arima Kana gratefully declined the kind offer, then glanced at the Director.
"But it's shocking. Director, you're living off your parents like a parasite..."
"Still no respect for adults, you brat."
Since it was true, Director Taishi couldn't say much in his defense.
"Still, it's nice. My parents are holed up in the countryside, so I live alone in a dorm. I always order delivery for meals..."
"Doesn't that cost a lot of money?" the Director asked, seemingly unable to understand the economics of living alone.
Arima Kana laughed brightly, as if the answer were obvious.
"It's fine! I have an astonishing amount of savings from my child actor days!"
"You're really hateable..."
Director Taishi found Arima Kana irritatingly successful.
"By the way, Director. Do you have any videos of Aqua acting?"
"I do, but..."
"Don't show it. That was a temporary weird phase, a so-called black history. It's a work where I got carried away thinking I had talent and failed miserably."
Aqua's self-assessment couldn't really be denied. While Ruby inherited Ai's idol talent, Aqua believed he lacked acting talent due to inheriting Ai's cautious personality, Yume's analytical ability, and the logical mindset from his past life.
However, on the flip side, if he continued to use that caution and analytical skill, Aqua could become a unique type of actor.
Upon hearing Aqua's refusal, the Director shrugged.
"That's right. If you want to see it, persuade this guy to show you."
"Heh~ so that's how it is."
"No way."
"Hmm~ Aqua, there's a project I'm in as the heroine, and there's a role that hasn't been cast yet. Should I ask the higher-ups for you?"
Arima Kana proposed this with a mischievous expression, but...
"No."
"What!?"
"What kind of project is it?"
Aqua refused, but the Director was curious.
"It's a drama based on a shoujo manga called 'Today, Sweetly.'"
"'Today, Sweetly?'"
"Yeah, do you know it?"
Upon hearing the title, Aqua thought for a moment.
"If you're even slightly involved in production and don't know it, you're a spy. It's a total masterpiece."
Besides, Ai (Mom) really liked it too. Thanks to that, Yume (Dad) had to endure watching it all day...
"Interested?"
Arima Kana saw it as an opportunity.
"I already said I'm not acting anymore..."
"Aww~ if you ask, they might surprisingly agree right away? The producer, Mr. Kaburagi, likes me."
"Kaburagi?"
The name instantly flashed through Aqua's mind.
"Full name is Kaburagi Masaya. Why?"
"Is that so...?"
First-person: Hoshino Aqua
After what happened to Ai, Yume (Dad) handed over three cell phones to me.
Two of them were clearly for work and personal use; those phones only contained logs of members or agency staff. Looking at them, I realized that Ai (Mom), who seemed airheaded, was actually far more cautious than anyone imagined and genuinely tried to keep our secrets safe.
Thanks to that confirmation, I handed those two phones back to Yume for disposal without hesitation.
The problem was the third cell phone.
Yume said this was the phone Ai used before she got pregnant.
Ai's current phone is completely different now. She entrusted the handling of these old phones to Yume, and giving me that specific phone meant she trusted me with it.
However, the battery had died long ago, and it was an older model. I thought it would be hard to find a replacement, but Yume took care of it the next day, so that wasn't an issue. The real problem was the effort and time required to break the password.
Each wrong attempt locked me out for 30 seconds. I didn't even know how many digits the password was.
I made time every day, trying combinations one by one.
It took half a day to try 100 times.
A month to try 1,000 times.
Honestly, if I had asked Yume for help, his company could have probably cracked it instantly. But thinking there might be accomplices in Yume's company, I told Yume I wanted to do it myself and kept at it.
Every day.
Every day.
Every day.
Finally, after the 45,510th attempt, I cracked the password.
It took four years to reach that moment.
After unlocking it, when I told Yume, he patted my head and said I worked hard. I'm not sure what that feeling was, but it made my chest itch.
I planned to give the smartphone to Yume after organizing the information, so I checked the contents first.
The smartphone contained email addresses and phone numbers for dozens of entertainment industry contacts.
Among them, quite a few were from Yume's company.
And one of them was:
"Kaburagi Masaya."
I finally found it. The first clue.
Third-person: Hoshino Aqua
"Kaburagi Masaya."
Upon hearing that name, Aqua realized he had discovered a crucial lead.
"Let's do it!! The cast is all around our age! And the male lead has a girly face, so he's cute!!" Kana added enthusiastically.
"I'll do it. Contact the producer for me."
"What? Why the sudden change of heart..."
Arima Kana was bewildered as Aqua, who had just insisted he had no intention of acting, suddenly agreed.
'The male lead has a girly face.'
For a moment, her own words filled her mind with strange implications.
"Uh, wha... what!? Are you into that!?"
"I have a lot to say about what you're implying, but I won't bother. Anyway, it's fine if I do it, right?"
"Ah... r-right? I'm looking forward to your acting. But... there are some problems on set, so be prepared?"
At this point, Aqua didn't know exactly what problems Arima Kana was referring to.