Act-Age Rebuild: Reborn into a Showbiz Family's Romantic Comedy!?
In the Yonagi household, dinner is bean sprouts, rice, and a stack of unpaid school lunch notices—and the only thing fifteen-year-old Kei has to her name is her mother's old movie DVDs and a habit of mimicking Audrey Hepburn in the dark. So when she sees an ad for a TV audition with a one-million-yen grand prize, she decides on the spot: she'll win it, pay off the debts, and prove to her sharp-tongued little sister Rei and her eye-rolling little brother Rui that when she says she'll do something
Act-Age Rebuild: Reborn into a Showbiz Family's Romantic Comedy!? - An audition for the prize money, and the judges called you a monster.
"Hey. What's this supposed to mean?"
At the dinner table, her little sister Rei slid a single sheet of paper in front of Kei.
Under the dim fluorescent light, the low table held just one thing: a big plate of bean-sprout stir-fry. Three bowls of white rice. No miso soup.
Yonagi Kei set down her chopsticks and took the paper. The words "Notice of Unpaid School Lunch Fees" marched across it in cold, printed type.
"...Ah. This."
Kei answered shortly and flipped the paper face-down. Her deep brown eyes wavered—just for an instant. The small tear mole behind her left ear caught the fluorescent light and floated faintly into view.
"'Ah, this' isn't an answer. You didn't pay again, did you?"
Rei was in the sixth grade. Her black hair, long enough to reach her shoulders, was tied back in a single bundle. Unlike her brother Rui, she was strangely level-headed. Ever since their mother died, Rei had been the first to worry about the household finances.
"It's fine. I'll figure something out."
"Figure something out how? You said the same thing last time, big sis."
"This time I really will. When I say I'll do something, I do it."
At Kei's words, her little brother Rui—who'd been shoveling rice into his mouth beside her—looked up. Second year of middle school. Same black hair as his sister, bangs hanging over his eyes.
" Big sis, that's your usual line. 'When I say I'll do it, I do it'—and it basically never works out."
"Shut up. This time I really will."
Kei shot back, pouting. Her right fingertips were unconsciously tapping the edge of the table. A habit.
"So how're you gonna make the money? More part-time jobs?"
"...I'm entering an audition."
"Huh?"
"An audition. On TV. There's prize money. I'll pay it with that."
Kei said it flat out. Even she thought it sounded awfully sudden. But she'd already decided.
Last week, she'd found a flyer on the school bulletin board. "Toto TV—Search for a Big New Star Audition. Grand Prize: One Million Yen." The moment she saw that number, something inside Kei's head popped.
With a million yen, she could pay off all the overdue lunch fees. She could even buy Rui and Rei new shoes.
"Big sis, it's an actor audition, right? You've never done any acting?"
Rei looked at Kei with an anxious face.
"I have. ...At home, copying stuff while watching movies."
"I thought that was just weird talking-to-yourself, not copying."
"It's not. That was practice. ...Probably."
"'Probably.'"
Rui sighed, exasperated.
Kei had grown up watching the old movie DVDs left in the house, over and over. Roman Holiday. Casablanca. Gone with the Wind. The movies her mother had loved. Ever since she could remember, Kei had become the people in those films—copying their lines, tracing their emotions.
She hadn't known that was acting until recently.
"But auditions have crazy competition, right? I've seen them on TV. Tens of thousands of people try out."
"Thirty-one thousand, two hundred and forty-seven. Total applicants."
"You actually counted?"
"It was written there. On the flyer. ...I think."
Kei tilted her head. Truthfully, she didn't remember the exact number. But she was sure it had been a lot.
"Big sis, that audition's impossible. I mean, you're bad at talking in front of people."
"I know I'm bad at it, but I'm doing it. When I say I'll do it—"
"—you do it. Yeah, yeah."
Rui waved his hand dismissively, like he'd given up.
"Oh, right. Big sis, some mail came today. ...From Dad."
As if remembering, Rei stood and fetched an envelope from a small shelf in the corner. A white envelope. On the front, in elegant brushstrokes, only this house's address and "To Yonagi Kei."
Kei took the envelope and didn't check inside.
"This is the support money, right? It came again this month."
"I won't use it."
"But if we used it, the lunch fees—"
"I said I won't use it, so I won't."
Kei stood and opened the drawer at the very back of the kitchen. Inside, several of the same white envelopes were crammed in. Kei stacked the new one on top and slammed the drawer shut.
The sound echoed through the little kitchen.
"...I can't use that kind of money."
Kei murmured it softly.
Their father had left home when Kei was in the fifth grade. She didn't know why. It was shortly before their mother died.
When their mother collapsed, and at the funeral, he never came back.
Only a fixed sum of money arrived every month. As if to say that was him fulfilling all his responsibility.
"Big sis..."
Rei watched Kei's back with worried eyes.
"I'm fine. Anyway, let's eat. It'll get cold."
Kei returned to her seat and picked up some bean sprouts with her chopsticks. They were a little limp. But they tasted like something Rei had made with all her effort.
"It's good."
"...Big sis, I made that. Of course it is."
Rei smiled a little.
"Big sis, you're seriously gonna do the audition?"
"I'm doing it. When I say I'll do it—"
"Yeah yeah, you'll do it."
Rui waved his hand again.
That night, Kei lay in her futon staring at the ceiling.
(I'm really going to be in an audition.)
She tried murmuring it in her mind.
(But what am I even supposed to do? Acting, I mean.)
Kei lifted her right hand and moved her fingertips in the dark. Tap, tap—tapping the air.
(Well. It'll work out.)
She decided to think so.
It'll work out.
───
Two weeks later.
Toto TV headquarters. A fifteen-story high-rise towering in Minato. The ground-floor lobby was packed with young people from morning on.
"Whoa, so many people..."
Kei froze at the lobby entrance.
Thirty-one thousand, two hundred and forty-seven applicants. Of those, only a few dozen had passed the document screening and preliminaries. Today was the final round.
Kei had come in her usual plain clothes—a white shirt and black slacks. Looking around, everyone was dressed to impress. The girls in dresses and skirts, the boys in jackets and flashy shirts.
(I stand out.)
Kei thought so, but she had nothing else to wear.
"Um, excuse me. Where's the waiting room for the final round?"
Kei called out to a woman nearby who looked like staff.
"Reception is over there. Please give your name."
"I'm Yonagi Kei."
"Yonagi... ah, you're a finalist. The waiting room is on the third floor. Please take the elevator."
Kei got on the elevator as directed.
The third-floor waiting room was a conference room, bigger than she'd expected. Long tables were lined up, and dozens of young people were preparing in their own spots.
Kei found an empty seat and sat. The girl next to her glanced at Kei, then quickly looked away.
(Ah. I stand out again.)
Kei gripped the script on her lap. The paper with the final round's assignment written on it.
Whispers drifted from around her.
"Hey, isn't that girl tall?"
"She's got a good figure. Maybe she's a model?"
"But her clothes are super plain, aren't they?"
Kei could hear them. But she decided not to care. She didn't have the luxury of caring.
"You nervous?"
Suddenly, the boy in the next seat spoke to her. A little older than Kei, maybe. Bright brown hair, an easy, friendly smile.
"...I am."
Kei answered honestly.
"Haha, figured. I'm super nervous too. What's your name?"
"I'm Yonagi Kei."
"Yonagi, huh. I'm Mitamura. Nice to meet you. Which agency do you want to join, Yonagi?"
"Agency...?"
"Win this audition and you get to join a big agency. Stars, you know? The biggest in the industry. They're probably the most popular. Then there's, well, smaller private agencies and stuff."
"Huh..."
Kei had never even thought about that.
"I'm aiming for Stars. Same agency as Momoshiro Chiyoko. You know her? The genius actress they call 'the Angel of Stars.'"
"...I don't."
"Seriously? You don't watch TV?"
"Not much. I watch movies, but mostly old ones."
"Old ones like what?"
"Roman Holiday, Casablanca..."
Mitamura gaped.
"...Isn't that your grandpa's taste?"
"My taste. I like Audrey Hepburn. The line of her neck is beautiful."
When Kei said it with a completely serious face, Mitamura gave a wry smile.
"You're a weird one, Yonagi."
"I get that a lot."
Kei, unsure whether it was a compliment, answered that way for now.
Around them, the other applicants were buzzing about acting theory, about the judges for this audition.
"I hear Director Kuromiyama Bokuji is one of today's judges."
"Wait, that Kuromiyama? Isn't that insane?"
"He's a god to movie buffs, but they say he's an eccentric."
Kuromiyama Bokuji. Kei knew the name, at least. He was the director of one of the films her mother had loved.
(So he's a judge.)
Kei felt her grip on the script tighten, just a little.
───
The final round was held with each person called into a separate room.
Kei's turn came after more than an hour of waiting in the holding room.
"Yonagi Kei, please."
Led by the staff, Kei opened the door to the judging room.
Inside was smaller than she'd expected. Several cameras were set up, and a long table faced her. Five judges sat behind it.
In the center was a thin man with salt-and-pepper hair grown out carelessly. A black shirt, a rumpled jacket. Only his eyes were unnaturally sharp.
(That's him. Kuromiyama Bokuji.)
Kei knew at once.
"Yonagi Kei, is it. We'll begin the final round. First, your prepared self-introduction, please."
A young female judge spoke.
"...Self-introduction."
Kei froze.
Self-introduction. What was she supposed to say?
"Um, I'm Yonagi Kei. Sixteen. Second-year in high school. ...My special skill is imitating movies."
"Imitating movies?"
"Yes. I'm pretty good at Audrey Hepburn, for instance."
Silence.
The judges exchanged glances.
"...I see. Then let's move to the next task."
The air was unmistakably awkward.
Kei felt like she'd done something wrong.
"We'll have you do some improvisational acting. Here's your prompt."
A staff member handed Kei a card.
Kei looked at it.
"Act out the thing that made you the angriest."
"..."
Kei stared at the card, unable to move.
The thing that made her the angriest.
(The thing that made me the angriest.)
Deep inside her heart, something stirred.
"Is something wrong? Please begin."
"...Um, is it really all right for me to act this out?"
"Yes. Act it however you like."
Kei took a deep breath.
Her right fingertips moved unconsciously. Tap, tap.
(The thing that made me the angriest.)
That was already decided.
Her mother's funeral.
It was a rainy day.
Kei had held Rui's and Rei's hands, staring at the photo of her mother surrounded by white flowers.
The relatives whispered to each other—"Poor things," "What will they do now?"
But the one person who should have come didn't.
Even when their mother died, their father fled from the funeral, from everything.
Kei gripped the card.
In that instant, Kei's eyes lost their focus, sliding gently out of alignment.
"...Why didn't you come?"
A voice leaked from Kei's mouth.
Small, hoarse.
"Why didn't you come?"
Again. This time, clearly.
Kei's deep brown eyes clouded over, darkening. When her emotions ran high, her eyes always did that.
"Mom died. You left home and didn't come back for years, and then Mom died all alone."
Kei spoke to the father who wasn't there.
"Because of you, I had to do everything. Rui's lunch money, Rei's uniform, the house—everything. All of it, me."
Her voice trembled.
"But you just send money and act like that's you doing your part. Don't screw with me. You think money fixes everything? Because you never came, Mom looked so lonely—"
Kei's vision blurred with tears.
But the tears didn't fall.
Instead, anger, sorrow, loneliness—emotions mashed together—poured out of Kei's whole body.
"...Come. Please, just once, come."
Kei sank down as if collapsing on the spot.
She covered her face with both hands and cried, stifling the sound.
On the day of her mother's funeral, Kei couldn't cry.
In front of Rui and Rei, she couldn't cry.
But now, in this moment, for the first time, Kei cou
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