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!? - A Genius Actress's Warning and the Past That Won't Fade
"Hey, Kei. Would you watch that scene from yesterday with me one more time?"
Chiyoko smiled sweetly and reached for Kei's arm.
In a corner of the set at the Chofu studio — the school drama *After School Symphony*. Artificial morning light poured down over the wooden classroom set. Kei clutched her script to her chest and took a step back.
"Um, uh... which scene from yesterday?"
"The last one. Where I held you."
Chiyoko said it as though it were nothing. Her chestnut hair swayed softly with the movement. Her big, jewel-like eyes, tinged with violet, were fixed on Kei.
Kei remembered yesterday.
The second day of shooting. She hadn't been able to memorize her lines no matter how hard she tried.
Take after take, she flubbed them. The director's voice rang through the studio.
"Cut! Yonagi, you're dropping your lines!"
"I-I'm sorry..."
Kei bit her lip at her own uselessness.
(Why... I practiced so much at home.)
The fingertips of her right hand unconsciously tapped the edge of her script — tap, tap, tap.
That was when it happened.
"Director, I'm sorry. Could you give us just a moment?"
Chiyoko raised her hand, smooth and quick.
She walked over to Kei's side and gently took her hand.
"Kei. Look me in the eyes."
"Eh..."
"Just do it."
Chiyoko's voice was strangely gentle.
When Kei lifted her head, Chiyoko wrapped both of Kei's hands in her own.
"You're not alone right now. I'm right here with you."
It wasn't a line from the script.
It was Chiyoko's improvisation.
But those words settled deep into Kei's chest, soft and certain.
(She's here with me.)
Kei's vision blurred.
Her mother had died, and her father had vanished.
All this time, she'd had to protect her little brother and sister alone.
She'd never been able to lean on anyone.
But right now, just this moment—
Chiyoko's hands were warm.
Tears spilled from Kei's eyes.
Real tears.
"...nn—"
Kei made a sound that wasn't quite a voice.
Chiyoko gently pulled her into an embrace.
"It's all right. You can cry just like that."
Chiyoko's voice echoed close to her ear.
Kei buried her face in Chiyoko's shoulder and cried, stifling the sound.
The studio went dead silent.
No one said anything.
The cameras were rolling.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime scene, a miracle that existed nowhere in the script.
——
"Cut! ...OK!"
The director's voice was trembling, just slightly.
The staff broke into applause.
"Amazing... we can use that in the actual take."
"Their back-and-forth is the best."
Kei hurriedly pulled away from Chiyoko's arms.
Her face was burning.
"Um, I— I'm sorry. I just started crying on my own..."
"Don't apologize. That straightforwardness of yours — I don't dislike it."
Chiyoko gave a soft laugh.
"If anything, I want to see more of it."
Kei's heart jumped at Chiyoko's smile.
(This person, seriously...)
Kei dropped her gaze, her face still red.
——
The third day of shooting.
It was the lunch break.
Kei was in the corner of the dressing room, about to eat lunch alone.
Just the cheapest onigiri from the convenience store, and water.
When she thought about the household budget, this was the best she could do.
"Kei, shall we eat together?"
Suddenly the dressing room door opened and Chiyoko poked her head in.
She was carrying a fancy-looking three-tier bento box.
"Um, uh... I'll just eat here..."
"No. Eating alone is lonely, isn't it?"
Without waiting for an answer, Chiyoko sat down beside Kei.
"Here. My tamagoyaki. It's good, so eat up."
Chiyoko plucked a piece of rolled omelet from her bento and plopped it right on top of Kei's convenience-store onigiri.
"Th-thank you..."
"So, there's something I've been wanting to ask you for a while."
Chiyoko brought a piece of tamagoyaki to her mouth and stared at Kei.
"Why is your acting so strange?"
"St-strange?"
"Strange. You start doing things that aren't in the script, and you start crying. A normal actor would never do that."
Chiyoko leaned in, thoroughly intrigued.
"Come on, tell me. The secret to your acting."
Kei hesitated for a moment.
But looking into Chiyoko's direct eyes, she felt it might be all right to tell her.
"...I can only act things I've experienced."
Kei confessed it quietly.
"Only things you've experienced?"
"Yeah. Just saying the lines from the script doesn't bring any feeling into it. But if I remember a similar feeling from my own past, the emotion from that time comes out just as it was."
Kei's right fingertips moved unconsciously on her knee.
"So for a sad scene, I remember a time I was sad. For a happy scene, a time I was happy."
"Isn't that... incredibly hard?"
Chiyoko's expression turned a little more serious.
"Hard... maybe. I don't know any other way."
Kei tilted her head.
"But I like your acting. Those tears the other day — they were real."
Chiyoko's eyes lit up.
"I want to know more about you. I want to see more of your acting."
Chiyoko's words seeped slowly into Kei's chest.
(When this person says that to me...)
Kei tightened her grip on the onigiri, just a little.
That was when it happened.
"Chiyoko, Kei — so you're in here."
The dressing room door opened again.
The one who walked in was Hoshi Akira.
Akira was an actor with Stars, and Hoshi Arisa's son. Soft brown hair, a friendly smile. He played Kei's love interest in the same school drama.
"Kei, your acting the other day was amazing. That crying scene gave me goosebumps."
Akira crouched down in front of Kei and peered into her face.
"Th-thank you..."
Kei leaned back a little at how close he was.
In that instant—
Chiyoko pulled Kei tight against her shoulder.
"Akira, Kei and I are talking right now. Would you mind not interrupting?"
Chiyoko's voice was still smiling.
But her eyes weren't.
"Chiyoko, that's not fair. I want to talk to Kei too."
Akira laughed, looking troubled.
"My, I'd appreciate it if you didn't approach my Kei without permission."
Still holding Kei by the shoulder, Chiyoko looked up at Akira.
"Ch-Chiyoko... um, I don't belong to anyone..."
Caught between the two of them, Kei was starting to panic.
"Kei is mine. Right, isn't that so?"
Chiyoko whispered into Kei's ear.
Her warm breath brushed Kei's ear.
"Eh, eh, eh...!?"
Kei's face went bright red all at once.
"Chiyoko, Kei's in trouble."
Akira reached out to help Kei.
"Akira, be quiet for a moment."
Chiyoko said it flatly.
"Ugh..."
Akira's shoulders slumped.
In Chiyoko's arms, Kei felt her heart pounding so loud it was unbearable.
(Wh-why does it always turn out like this...)
Kei's head was spinning in confusion.
——
That afternoon.
Filming resumed, and Kei stood facing Chiyoko in the center of the set.
The scene: the protagonist (Chiyoko) confides her secret to her best friend (Kei).
"Cut! Yonagi, put more emotion into it! Really receive the other person's words!"
"Yes...!"
Kei flubbed take after take, acting with everything she had.
(I have to really listen to Chiyoko's lines...)
Kei looked into Chiyoko's eyes.
Chiyoko's eyes were like a deep violet sea, trying to pull Kei in.
"...The truth is, I'm scared of being hated by everyone."
Chiyoko's voice rang across the set.
It was a line from the script.
But to Kei, it sounded like Chiyoko's true feelings.
(Chiyoko... is scared?)
Kei's chest tightened.
"So I'm always smiling. If I smile, I won't be hated."
A perfect smile was plastered across Chiyoko's face.
But to Kei, that smile looked like it was crying.
"...That's not it."
The words spilled from Kei's mouth on their own.
"That's not it. There are things that won't get across if you just smile."
Kei took a step closer to Chiyoko.
"I want to see your face when you're not smiling, too."
It wasn't a line from the script.
But it was a line from Kei's heart.
Chiyoko's eyes flew wide for an instant.
And then, the next moment—
Chiyoko's perfect smile crumbled.
"...Kei, you really are unfair."
Chiyoko looked at Kei with an expression caught between crying and laughing.
"Cut! ...OK!!"
The director's voice rang through the studio.
"That was incredible! Both of you!"
The staff broke into loud applause.
Kei looked straight back into Chiyoko's face.
Chiyoko looked back at her.
It was the moment something was unmistakably born between them.
——
Right after that shoot ended.
The studio entrance suddenly grew noisy.
"Hey, isn't that President Hoshi?"
"Why is the president of Stars here?"
Kei turned toward the commotion.
Standing there was a woman.
She wore a black suit, immaculately tailored, her back ramrod straight. Her long black hair was tied back in a single bundle. Mid-forties, perhaps.
The air around her alone was pulled taut.
(That's Hoshi Arisa...)
Kei swallowed hard.
The president of Stars, and a former actress.
And rumored to be someone who had once broken her own mind through method acting.
Arisa slowly surveyed the studio.
Her gaze stopped, dead, on Kei.
Without a word, Arisa watched Kei's performance, fixed and still.
——
When filming ended and Kei tried to head back to the dressing room, a voice called from behind her.
"Yonagi Kei."
It was a low, composed voice.
Kei turned around.
Arisa was looking down at her, expressionless.
"Y-yes."
"I have something to discuss with you. Would that be all right?"
"...Yes."
Arisa led Kei out of the studio into an empty hallway.
The evening light slanted in through the windows.
Gazing outside, Arisa spoke quietly.
"I was watching your acting."
"...Yes."
"I'll be blunt. Your acting is dangerous. You may end up destroying yourself."
Arisa's words pierced Kei's chest like a sharp blade.
"...What do you mean?"
Kei fought to keep her voice from trembling.
"You're bringing your own past emotions straight into your roles. Am I wrong?"
"...Yes. That's the only way I can do it."
"Yes, I know. Your talent is real. But that method will devour you someday."
Arisa turned to face Kei.
Her eyes were like a deep darkness, reflecting Kei.
"I once acted the same way you do. And I couldn't get out of my roles anymore."
Arisa's voice was quiet.
But the weight of her words was immeasurable.
"You couldn't get out of your roles...?"
"Yes. You stop knowing whether you're acting or whether that's really you. Your daily life becomes a performance. Your emotions stop being your own. And in the end, you lose track of who you are."
Arisa stared at her own palm.
"Because of that, I lost everything."
Kei was speechless.
(This person... went through that.)
"That's why I don't want you to walk the same road."
Arisa looked straight into Kei's eyes.
"I'll teach you how to wear a role instead of playing it. How to protect yourself, from my own experience."
The offer was completely unexpected to Kei.
But Kei shook her head.
"...Thank you. But this is the only way I can act."
Kei's voice was small.
But there was a firm will in it.
"This is the only way I have. So I want to get better — with this way."
Arisa gazed at Kei for a while.
"...I see. That's a shame."
Arisa let out a small sigh.
"But remember this. If you ever look like you're about to break, I will come to stop you. Without fail."
With that, Arisa turned her back on Kei and walked away.
Kei stood rooted to the spot.
(My acting is... dangerous.)
Arisa's words repeated over and over in her head.
Kei's right fingertips unconsciously clenched the hem of her uniform.
——
After filming ended.
Kei sat alone in the dressing room, staring at her script.
But none of it registered.
(Is my acting going to destroy me?)
(But this is all I have...)
Kei's heart swayed, unsteady.
"Kei, may I come in?"
Chiyoko's voice came from beyond the door.
"...Go ahead."
Chiyoko quietly opened the door and came in.
"What did you talk about with President Arisa?"
Chiyoko sat down beside Kei.
"...That my acting is dangerous."
Kei said it quietly.
"That my acting might destroy me someday."
Chiyo
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