[CH.33] Conversation with Ms. Oshima and Director Kanzaki's Unreasonable Demands

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

⇐ Previous            Index            Next ⇒

[CH.33] Conversation with Ms. Oshima and Director Kanzaki's Unreasonable Demands

**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 Azusa Oshima (Ms. Oshima): Sumire’s mentor Yoko Ando (Yoko-san): Sumire's manager Toyo-san: An elderly maid who works for the Oshima family. Maho Iida: MC’s senpai at the dormitory, a high school student. Natsumi Shirakawa: MC’s senpai at the dormitory, also a high school student. Yumiko Kurita (Yumi-san): MC’s senpai at the dormitory, a middle school student. Director Kanzaki: The interviewer at Sumire's first audition and a film director. Narumi Sasaki: A girl who played the role of Sumire's character's best friend in the educational drama. Yuta Aisaka (Yu-kun): A boy who acted alongside Sumire in an educational drama. He is an idol trainee.

The next day, when I woke up, Toyo-san was already earnestly engaged in household chores.

"Toyo-san, good morning."

When I greeted her, Toyo-san bowed with an apologetic expression.

"Good morning, Sumire-chan. I'm sorry for yesterday. I just got back from Osaka, and I ended up causing trouble even though I just returned."

"No, not at all. On the contrary, I used ingredients without asking, so I was planning to go shopping today to replenish them."

As I talked about what happened after returning home yesterday, Toyo-san expressed disbelief, saying, 'Those girls are really...' I wanted to say loudly, 'Both Maho-san and Natsumi-san are being exasperated by Toyo-san.' But those two probably don't care about that at all, I sighed inwardly.

Since Toyo-san said there was no need to replenish the ingredients, I couldn't insist on it. As a token of appreciation, I handed over a souvenir I had bought. I had thought of giving one to Ms. Oshima as well, but it seems she just got home a little while ago. She apparently instructed Toyo-san, 'I'll spend the whole day sleeping today, so make sure no one wakes me up,' and started a deep sleep."

"Well, there are various obligations and interactions, I suppose," I whispered to myself, helping with breakfast preparations. I thanked Ms. Oshima in my heart for her hard work. While eating the breakfast that Toyo-san had prepared, I asked her about the reason for leaving early yesterday.

It turns out that Toyo-san has three grandchildren in total, the eldest being a high school student and the youngest still in elementary school. This time, the eldest, a high school student, apparently fractured his dominant leg while participating in soccer club activities. Toyo-san lives in the same neighborhood as her children, but unfortunately, they both work. Unable to reach them, they finally contacted Ms. Oshima's house, designated as the last emergency contact.

After contacting her grandchildren first, Toyo-san briefly informed Maho-san and the others who had returned home, then hurriedly headed to the hospital. After hearing that it wasn't a serious injury, Toyo-san breathed a sigh of relief. If my memory serves me right, winter should be when the famous soccer tournament takes place. So, if they recover quickly and work hard on rehabilitation, they should make it in time, right?

After that, I accompanied Toyo-san on her shopping trip, helped with carrying the groceries, and helped tidy up the dorm and deal with the piled-up laundry. Before I knew it, it was already evening. When Ms. Oshima, who had just woken up, came out, I handed her a souvenir and reported that I had passed Mr. Kanzaki's movie audition.

"You did well," she said, patting my head as she praised me.

I briefly complained about the events in Osaka and the fact that I still couldn't go back home. Ms. Oshima expressed deep sympathy and comforted me.

"It's tough not being able to go back to your hometown where you were born and raised. Even though you're a strong girl, Sumire, you're still only 10 years old. Your parents need to work hard and find a way for you to return home soon," Ms. Oshima said.

I nodded in response to Ms. Oshima's words. For me, my hometown was special, having lived there for a long time, including my past life. Above all, my dearest friend in this life is in my hometown, so I really want to be able to go back there easily and quickly. I'm counting on you, Mom and Dad.

"If the situation doesn't change, and Sumire becomes unbearably lonely, would you like to become my daughter?" Suddenly, I was asked this as if it were no big deal, and my mind went blank. I stared at Ms. Oshima, and after a wry smile, she took a sip of tea.

"It's not a joke... I'm quite serious, actually. Of course, not right away, and it's perfectly fine even if it's after Sumire becomes an adult. After all, your real mother will never give up her parental rights."

I wondered why Ms. Oshima believed in me so much. After all, I had only been here for a little over a year, and while I had been given some acting opportunities, I was still just a fledgling child actress.

"You may have a puzzled look, but after being around you for nearly a year, I understand your essence. You're bright, serious, cooperative, and you can express your opinions to older people, and you approach your work sincerely. Most importantly, you don't shy away from my lessons. Instead, you diligently tackle the challenges and overcome them. So, it's not strange for me to find you adorable, is it?" Ms. Oshima said.

According to Ms. Oshima's expectations, she didn't think I would have many jobs. But thanks to Yoko-san's efforts, during the summer break, I had an average of three jobs a week. Even after school started, I still had an average of two jobs scheduled every week. Considering the positive reviews of the educational drama and the results of the recent audition, it was almost too good to be true.

Feeling strongly acknowledged in this way, even including my past life, was a first for me, and my eyes welled up with tears before I could even realize it. Tears trickled down my cheeks.

Ms. Oshima chuckled and moved closer, gently cradling my head against her chest and patting my back rhythmically. The subtle scent of her perfume and the warmth of her body made me feel drowsy. I had been listening with a somewhat hazy mind, so it might have been a dream, but Ms. Oshima shared bits and pieces of her life story with me.

Ms. Oshima had suffered from an illness during her minor years, which left her unable to have children. Even if she could have children, she was approaching her mid-40s, so giving birth would come with many risks due to advanced maternal age.

It had been mentioned during the interview for moving into the dorm, but Ms. Oshima was looking for a successor who could inherit everything from her. Until now, she had been content with teaching her established acting techniques and passing them down to the next generation. However, after living with me, she began to desire a daughter of her own. She mentioned that Yumi-san, who was not much different in age, was also present, but Yumi's acting was heavily influenced by her work in the children's theater group. In my case, I was essentially a blank slate, and she felt particularly attached to me because she could teach me her acting techniques from scratch.

"I would be happy if we could go for adoption, but that's not the only option. If Sumire can grow up naturally just as she is, I'm sure it'll be the best future for all of us," she said.

After that, I must have fallen into a deep sleep because the next thing I knew, it was the morning of the next day. I woke up in my room's bed, so someone, probably Ms. Oshima or another dorm resident, must have taken me there while I was sleeping.

I held onto Ms. Oshima's heartfelt words, replaying them in my mind, and couldn't help but tightly clench my fist.

"I've got to keep doing my best from now on!"

For now, there were no plans for adoption with Ms. Oshima, but I had no idea what the future held. However, I was determined to give it my all and work as hard as I could to ensure a better future for myself and those around me.

---

As summer vacation came to an end, I returned to school and continued balancing part-time jobs and magazine modeling gigs. Of course, the educational drama was also nearing its end, but there were still some scenes to shoot, so I continued to participate.

"Sumire-chan and Narumi-chan, this is the last scene!"

It was early October, and the shooting for the educational drama I first joined had come to an end. The assistant director announced it loudly, and the cameramen, directors, and other staff in the studio applauded while saying, "Great job."

Narumi-chan, who was standing beside me, and I exchanged surprised glances. Then, Yu-kun and another boy brought a small bouquet that could be held with one hand and handed it to the two of us. If it were for adults, it might have been a regular bouquet, but they probably thought it would be more practical for kids like us, as a regular bouquet might get damaged on the way home.

Personally, I'm more the type to prefer practicality over flowers, so I appreciated the small bouquet that wouldn't be a hassle to carry. I would have been even happier if it were some snacks that could be shared with the residents in the dorm.

Perhaps because our main episode with Narumi-chan and me had received positive feedback, we became part of the leading group for the latter half of the drama. When the other classmates' roles ended in the past, there were no such surprises, which made me feel somewhat guilty.

"At the upcoming seniors' concert, I've been selected to be in the special group that will dance right next to my seniors. I'll give you tickets, so make sure to come and watch!"

The one who handed me the bouquet was Yu-kun, who had faced various challenges during the filming. His talent agency chose this job as the first step to promote his face, but it turned out that acting wasn't really suited for him. With our efforts, he did improve a little, but I probably won't have a chance to see him in acting-related jobs for a while.

Since I've taken care of him a lot and feel a bit like a family member or even a little brother to him, if he wanted me to come to watch, I'd go without hesitation. I even suggested that I bring a uchiwa (fan) with "Yu-kun" written on it in big letters to cheer for him, but he earnestly begged me, "Please don't do that." Right, I'll save that idea as a surprise until the main concert where Yu-kun is performing.

Narumi-chan, who played my best friend, joined through an open audition, so we probably won't meet on set in the future. However, it seems she had some thoughts after participating in this filming. She now wants to support actors as a member of the staff in the future.

It's a challenging job, but actors need the support of the staff. If she continues to nurture that dream and is determined to pursue it, I hope she succeeds.

There are still a few scenes left to be filmed as a whole, and we will meet again at the wrap-up party scheduled for another day. We said our goodbyes with a somewhat melancholic mood after overcoming the filming together, but I couldn't linger in such sentimentality for long.

"Sumire, we've received some challenging requests from Director Kanzaki," Yoko-san said as she took out her planner from her bag and flipped through the pages while we were in a taxi on the way back. The term "challenging requests" was enough to trigger an unpleasant feeling, but there was no way I could simply ignore it, so I steeled myself and urged her to continue.

"He wants you to be able to play the piano for the movie shoot. Also, he's requesting your help with swimming."

Yoko-san said this with a small sigh, and I couldn't quite grasp the meaning of her words. I involuntarily squeezed the bouquet I had in my hand. What on earth is she talking about?

Support Tangerine Translation on Ko-fi! 🍊 ko-fi.com/tangerinetranslation 🍊

⇐ Previous            Index            Next ⇒