Chapter 35: Going to the Studio Lot to Meet the Female Lead.
....
On Saturday, Kihara prepared to head down to the studio lot to see exactly which star the director had recruited to play the female lead.
Upon learning about this, Momo and Nana displayed immense enthusiasm. In just a few short days, they had completely adjusted to life on Earth. Before their father sent an official reply, the two were living a thoroughly lazy and self-indulgent life that made Anna Yanami green with envy.
Every single day, they woke up to a breakfast personally whipped up by Kihara or Sanae. Lunch was prepared in advance and left in the fridge, requiring nothing more than a quick reheat. Their free time in between was spent watching television, playing video games, and munching on snacks.
Once the other girls returned from school, they would drag the two sisters out to shop for ingredients or stroll through the streets. They didn't have to worry about studies or homework at all.
No matter how you looked at it, it was a lifestyle to die for.
Since Kihara was covering all of their living expenses, it was precisely for this reason that the two sisters cooked up the idea to tag along to the set. If they could help boost his career to greater heights, it would feel less like they were simply freeloading under his roof.
At first, Nana assumed it wouldn't be easy to obtain his consent, as she was well aware of the existence of non-disclosure agreements.
Even if Kihara was the absolute number-one male lead of the Tokusatsu drama, he couldn't just casually bring random outsiders onto the closed set. However, she had severely underestimated his massive influence as the hottest young actor of the moment.
Upon hearing Momo's request to visit the set, he pulled out his phone, exchanged a quick word with the staff, and nodded in agreement. "Sure, why not? Anyway, shooting doesn't officially start until this afternoon. Think of it as an early chance to meet the female lead, who isn't even scheduled to appear until the middle of the story."
"Hooray! Brother-in-law is truly amazing~"
"Yuck~ Stop talking like that. I'm totally not used to it." Nana rubbed her arms aggressively to smooth down the goosebumps that had suddenly broken out. She could not comprehend why Momo was suddenly using such a high-pitched, syrupy voice, especially since Kihara didn't look like the type of guy who particularly enjoyed that tone.
Her grand strategy to establish a doting fan-girl persona had barely begun before being utterly shattered by her oblivious sister. Momo was left completely speechless. She genuinely wanted to grill Nana on whether she felt physically ill if she didn't ruin her plans.
"This is just how I normally speak, you know. Besides, brother-in-law just used his personal connections to sneak two total outsiders like us into the studio lot.
Shouldn't you show him a bit of praise?"
"Well... that part is indeed worthy of praise, but did you really have to use such a... fake... tone?"
Nana exerted a massive amount of effort to swap out the word "manipulative" for "fake." In her eyes, a Momo who carried a hint of flattery in her words was undoubtedly brewing some kind of mischievous plot.
If she allowed her sister to keep running wild, any trouble caused on set would run completely counter to their original goal of helping Kihara's career rise.
As the two sisters bickered, Kihara did not abruptly cut in to break them up. Instead, he maintained a respectful distance, walking slightly ahead to lead the way, proactively turning back to remind them to halt whenever they reached a crosswalk.
This subtle gesture was caught by Momo, who quietly pinned a mental tag of
[Meticulous and Considerate] onto him.
The area where they lived wasn't a bustling downtown district. Even if they used a ride-hailing app to book a taxi, they still had to walk about a kilometer to the nearest bus stop to wait for their ride.
When the car arrived, Kihara proactively pulled open the rear passenger door to let the two sisters slide in first before entering himself.
This time, even the thoroughly dense Nana noticed his gentlemanly conduct. A flash of approval gleamed in her eyes, and her desire to help Kihara grew even stronger.
"Because a lot of the battle scenes involve heavy explosions, the set is located out in the rural suburbs today."
"That sounds quite interesting. By the way, brother-in-law, do you use a double?"
"You mean a stunt double? No, I don't need those. I can basically execute all the action choreography on my own."
The three carried on a casual back-and-forth conversation, arriving at their destination twenty minutes later.
The shooting location today was situated along a riverbank next to a crystal-clear lake. Because he had cleared it with the crew beforehand, the three faced absolutely no resistance when entering the studio lot.
"Good morning, Kihara-kun!"
"Mmhmm, morning, Miss Asakura."
"Kihara-kun, you didn't bring a bento made by your childhood friend today~ Are you finally planning to join us for lunch?"
"Watanabe-san, please stop teasing me. I actually brought two friends along today to check out the set."
"Oh my~ What a pair of gorgeous young misses! Kihara-kun, if they ever have any interest in becoming actresses, make sure to let me know~"
On their way to the actual shooting grid, women continuously called out to greet Kihara. The irritation was already written clearly across Nana's face. Just as she was on the verge of popping a vein, Momo suddenly gave her sleeve a sharp tug.
"What are you doing?!"
"Shh—keep your voice down. An actor as incredibly famous as brother-in-law absolutely cannot expose his romantic life carelessly. It's only normal that he didn't state our official identities. Don't go causing trouble for him."
"Sorry... I almost forgot about that." Nana offered an honest apology, before knitting her brows and whispering, "But don't you think the female-to-male ratio on this crew is a little too high?"
"About that..." Kihara chuckled, offering the explanation in Momo's place. "To be honest, the gender ratio was perfectly normal at the very start. But later on, Director Hata Ranko brought her own funding to the project, and her acquaintances gradually started replacing the original staff members."
"Isn't that just shameless nepotism?!"
"Haha, that's exactly what I thought at first too. Fortunately, their working abilities are all incredibly strong, and Director Hata Ranko's personal skills are completely flawless. That's the only reason I didn't risk breaching my contract to run away."
"Oh my? So Kihara-kun didn't trust me at all at the beginning?"
A vocal frequency strikingly similar to Peke's drifted over from behind them. A sharp, capable woman with light-green short hair and eyes completely devoid of any highlights walked over with a knowing smile, a camera dangling across her chest.
"Director Ranko, good morning."
"It's useless trying to laugh it off, you know. I distinctly heard everything you just whispered to these two young ladies. If you don't join everyone on the crew for lunch today, I'm afraid this memory will linger in my brain forever."
Kihara's extensive training in playing dumb did not go to waste. He completely ignored Ranko's teasing and looked straight at the black-haired girl standing right behind her, his eyes widening in genuine surprise.
"Aren't you Kyoko from Baking Hot Magical Girl Kyoko?"
"To be remembered by the currently top-trending Kihara-kun, I am deeply honored," the girl replied politely.
Having failed to successfully tease Kihara, Ranko instantly morphed into a lifeless zombie. "Since you've both watched each other's works, there's no need for me to handle the introductions. Filming officially kicks off this afternoon. Until then, you two should get to know each other and find the right chemistry for your shared scenes. As for me, I'm off to sneak a peek up the skirt of Magical Girl Meruru next door."
"Ahahaha... Director Ranko really loves her jokes."
"No, she's completely serious. Up until today, she has been kicked out by the crew next door over a hundred times already."
"Huh???"
....
Thank you for reading.