[CH.25] Unable to Return Home, Sumire, and the Beginning of the Heisei Era

I Reincarnated as a Beautiful Girl and Aim to Become a Top Actress! (WN)

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[CH.25] Unable to Return Home, Sumire, and the Beginning of the Heisei Era

**TL Notes: So as not to confuse you all, I made a list of the characters that get mentioned in this chapter that you may have forgotten before.   Sumire Matsuda: MC Yuta Aisaka (Yukkun): A boy who acted alongside Sumire in an educational drama. Toyo-san: An elderly maid who works for the Oshima family. Yoko Ando (Ando-san): Sumire's manager. Azusa Oshima (Ms. Oshima): Sumire’s mentor. Touka Kimura: MC's classmate in Tokyo. She is also the class representative.

— December 31st

Inside the dormitory on New Year's Eve, there was a quiet atmosphere. The only sounds in the room were the slurping of soba noodles and the noise from the television. I could have eaten in my own room, but I felt lonely and chose to spend time in the common room.

Being here meant that the kitchen was nearby, making it convenient for when I wanted a warm drink.

However, December had been busy. Even for me, a newcomer in the entertainment industry, it was quite hectic. I could only imagine how overwhelming it must have been for the seniors and Ms. Oshima. Year-end preparations must be tough.

Well, in my case, it wasn't so much the year-end rush as the fact that I had just become a regular, and the magazine photoshoot took about a week. I was dressed up like a human doll in various outfits at various locations. Moreover, they wanted different facial expressions ranging from a full smile to a refined smile and a subtle smile. Because of this, my face started to hurt. While it was good practice for how to move my face and create expressions, it was just tiring.

As for the commercial, I was surprised when they offered it to me. I wondered if it was because I personally reached out to the higher-ups last time or if it was because the previous shoot went smoothly. Anyway, I heard that I was chosen by direct request. When I heard the details, it turned out that this time, they could only allocate one day for the shoot. So, I think the reason I was chosen this time was probably the latter.

Last time, the toy was for playing in the bath, but this time it's a stylish toy targeted at girls. It's a compact, colorful toy with a pink base adorned with red and blue acrylic beads, meant for playing dress-up with attached ribbons and hair ties. I think it's cute, but since it's a toy, it's understandable that the quality of the craftsmanship might be a bit lacking.

This time, I played with a girl of about the same age, and we pretended to comb and style each other's hair while playing. She was a well-behaved child, so the shoot went smoothly. One small issue was that she was taller than me, so she started acting like an older sister, treating me as her little sister. Well, I'm an adult on the inside, and there's no point in competing, so I did my best in the little sister role.

As I continued to work, December passed by quickly, and it was now late December. I was thinking about discussing my return home when I called my parents, but my mother told me that returning home was not an option.

While my parents wanted me to come back, it seemed that my sister's mental state was in a terrible condition. According to my mother, she had been relatively calm for about a month after moving to Tokyo, but when she watched the commercial I appeared in, she went berserk. It was the same when she saw the magazine. My mother had bought it and hidden it in a drawer, but when she returned home after going out, it was torn to pieces and scattered on the floor.

If photos and videos could trigger such a reaction, I didn't know what her response would be if she saw me in person. So, I had no choice but to agree not to approach my family until she calmed down. It was frustrating to feel like I was running away, but I valued my safety. I didn't want to experience pain or hardship unnecessarily.

However, if her condition had deteriorated to that extent, I wondered if it was beyond what an amateur could handle. I suggested that she should seek professional counseling, but I heard that my paternal grandparents were against any family members seeking help from mental health professionals or similar services. Perhaps it was because they worked for an old conglomerate or because they cared too much about their social image.

Even though the prejudice against mental health professionals had diminished quite a bit by the end of the Heisei era, it still existed, and during these times, the public's perception might be even more critical. Nevertheless, pouring out your feelings to a completely unrelated person can help you organize your thoughts. In my previous life, talking to a counselor made me feel significantly better.

I assumed that my sister's emotions might be all tangled up, and she might be unable to handle it herself. Before her unexpressed feelings burst out, she needed to seek advice from a professional. If not, her frustration might be directed not only at me but also at our parents and the people in our neighborhood. When I conveyed this to my mother, she responded seriously, "I'll talk to your father about it." Our grandparents might interfere from the outside, but they were just outsiders. My sister's parents were only my mother and father, and while it was tough, I wanted them to handle it properly.

So, I was currently alone in the dormitory, slurping up New Year's Eve soba. Of course, everyone was concerned about leaving a third-grader alone, and they all suggested things like "Should we stay together?" or "Would you like to come to our family's home?" However, I hesitated to intrude on their family gatherings during the New Year's holidays. Also, Ms. Oshima had unchangeable plans, and she couldn't be home during the New Year's holidays, which made her reluctant to agree to me staying alone.

As a backup plan, I tried to find out if there was anyone nearby who could let me stay with them. I even considered whether Nao and Fumika's families might be an option, but they were also going back to their grandparents' homes in the countryside. When I asked, the aunt who turned down the two of them on the phone apologized to me. The neighbor behind my house offered to let me stay with them, but that would likely increase the chances of encountering my sister, rendering my homecoming meaningless. So, I turned that offer down as well.

In the end, Toyo-san, who surprisingly lived nearby, agreed to check in on me once a day. My argument that a few days of staying alone wouldn't be a problem was never fully accepted. I guess they couldn't help but worry when I looked so young, and they didn't want to cause any inconvenience. I really wanted to grow up quickly.

I had already finished my winter break homework, and I couldn't do self-training all day long. With too much free time on my hands, I passed the time by thoroughly cleaning the dormitory. I spent the New Year's holidays this way.

---

The dormitory residents returned, and we were all determined to do our best this year. However, just as in my previous life, Emperor Shōwa passed away, and the era transitioned into Heisei. When I was a child in my previous life, I somewhat felt like it didn't concern me, but now, here in Tokyo, I could sensitively feel the atmosphere of the mourning world. I spent January in a dark and somber mood every day.

In February, our daily routines gradually returned, and the long-awaited shooting for the educational drama I was cast in began. In the first episode, there was an introduction of the cast members before filming. The actors included talent from theater groups, child actor-specialized production companies, male idol production called "Dannys," and general applicants, each with diverse backgrounds.

I was cast as the friend of the shy character, with a setting that she had good social skills, so we often filmed scenes where I interacted well with other classmates and played together. To get into character, I actively moved around during breaks and free time, greeting and chatting with others.

The child actors and kids from theater groups, as well as those from general auditions, had surprisingly good social skills. I quickly made friends with the girls, but the boys seemed more reserved. However, there was an attractive boy from Dannys cast as the protagonist who kept approaching me for various reasons.

"Hey, Sumire! Your scene isn't up yet, right? Let's play ball over here."

"Yukkun, didn't the director tell us to refer to everyone by their character names recently? Can't you remember my character's name?"

"Even if they say that, I still don't get this acting stuff, you know? I'm me, and you're you, right? Why do we have to call each other by different names?"

"Yukkun," which is how I usually called Yuta Aisaka, responded to my words with a furrowed brow. Yukkun aspired to be an idol, so he loved singing and dancing, but it seemed like he had little interest in anything else, especially acting. He couldn't quite understand why we had to call each other by different names and say scripted lines when, in his view, we already had our own names and personalities.

I couldn't tell if the agency had high expectations for him or if they were trying to foster his growth in different areas, but I couldn't help but sigh. Every time he said no, it caused inconvenience not only to me but also to the other cast members, and the staff's motivation waned as well.

Being a bit meddlesome, I tried to improve his attitude by teaching him about acting, practicing lines together, and more, but judging by his recent words, I couldn't say it was working well. Lately, I just tried to get through it by explaining movements and blocking with the director, thinking that as long as the scene went smoothly, it was enough.

While he still struggled to grasp the concept of acting, he seemed to have understood that I was someone working hard for his sake. Yukkun started talking to me more frequently and inviting me to hang out more often. By the way, I was the only one among our classmates who could call him "Yukkun." If anyone else did, he'd get upset, so I suggested calling him by his character's name, but he preferred to keep it the way it was. Well, maybe he really trusted me a lot. But still, it's better than being disliked.

With that, we finished another round of filming, and the season was about to turn into April. In addition to the educational drama, I was busy with magazine shoots, spot appearances in other dramas, and even participating as an extra in movies. I was having busy but enjoyable days, and time passed quickly.

I entered the fourth grade, and although we changed classes, I ended up in the same class as Touka. Some of the friends I had made in my previous class were also there, so I expected my school life to go smoothly. Apologies for my preconceived notions from my past life, but it seemed like at this age, girls were starting to get involved in group conflicts and disputes with boys. If I ever got caught up in that kind of fierce school life, I thought I'd need a base camp to heal my wounded heart and body. From that perspective, I could say that my new class this time was a good match. Our homeroom teacher was still Yoshida-sensei, and I wouldn't have to explain my situation from scratch every time I needed to take time off for work.

Just when I thought everything was going smoothly, as always, Ando-san suddenly appeared in the rehearsal room and said something like this out of nowhere:

"Sumire, are you interested in singing?"

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