Chapter 6

“What?!” both actors exclaimed at the same time.

Kana and Junichiro looked at each other, each trying to gauge from the other’s reaction whether they had just heard the same thing. Judging from the fact that Junichiro had nearly jumped out of his seat and his eyes were the size of saucers, Kana decided she could probably trust her ears in this instance. Believing that she actually heard what she heard was different than believing what was said, however.

Ginzo Hoshina was the biggest name director in the Japanese film industry currently. In all, his movies had grossed nearly 500 billion yen and won hundreds of awards across the globe. It wasn’t just that he was good at making money using his movies, his films were top-notch. Movie lovers and film critics would sing his praises with nearly every new release. His name was essentially synonymous with success in the context of Japanese film.

For Kana to hear that she and her co-star were going to be the starring roles of his next movie was, to put it lightly, outrageously shocking. Especially considering that they had both only been acting professionally for around two years, still amateurs by industry standards. The two of them were fairly popular and were gaining popularity, sure. But up until now, they had only starred in small or medium sized projects. Going from projects like those to the big league projects like Hoshina’s films, especially this early in their careers was extremely strange and frankly unprecedented.

“You…You’re not messing with us, right?” Junichiro finally managed to choke out after a long silence, “This isn’t some kind of prank?”

Renji shook his head. “Nah, man. This is real. Welcome to the big leagues.”

“But…how?” Kana asked, flabbergasted.

This time it was Aoi’s turn to speak. “Well, as nice as it would be to take all the credit and have you two believe that we’re some kind of super managers, that’s not entirely the truth. In reality, Hoshina-san was the one who came to us.”

“What?” Both actors repeated once more, a bit quieter this time, but a similar amount of surprise.

“It’s true.” Renji affirmed, “He dropped by the office one day while we were both getting some work done. Asked for us both by name to talk about you two. He said he’d heard good things about both of you and decided he wanted to take a chance and try to nurture some of the industry’s ‘finest young talents’.”

“That and he said he’d recently gotten around to watching Miracle Chaser. I believe the exact words he used were that it ‘made him cry so hard that he filled his popcorn bucket with tears’.” Aoi added somewhat dryly.

“Huh? But Miracle Chaser is like, the worst thing we’ve done!” Kana reminded them.

The two managers just shrugged, apparently just as confused about the idea of the greatest director in the current era of Japanese film being overcome with emotion at the single worst project they had all produced together. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but Kana wasn’t about to dwell on that matter when she had just been told she had been granted a starring role in what was probably going to be the next biggest movie in Japan. If this went well, this wouldn’t just be a stepping stone for her and Junichiro’s careers; it would be a springboard.

“Anyway,” Renji began again, “he wants to meet us all tomorrow morning at 8:30am at his office to go over the details of the contracts. He also sent a preview of the script with us in case you two have any lingering doubts.”

Aoi produced a folder from her bag and held out a few papers to Kana and Junichiro, who both tentatively took them. A few minutes passed as they both silently read through the fragments of the script that they had been given. Kana had to suppress a small gasp as she read over a particularly powerful line. Kana finished first, handing the papers back to Aoi and instinctively straightening her skirt again. Junichiro appeared to finish a few moments later, looking up from the papers in front of him with an expression that was somewhere between nervous and overwhelmingly excited.

“This script…is really something else.” he breathed, handing the papers back to Aoi with slightly trembling fingers.

“For once, I agree with Kurotaki.” Kana said softly, “Even from just this little bit of the script, I think this film has incredible prospects.”

Renji’s smile widened once more. “That’s what Aoi-chan and I thought as well, so it’s good to hear that we’re all on the same page.”

Aoi tapped the papers against the table to make a neat stack, put them back in the folder, and slid the folder into her bag. “Just to make things clear, this isn’t going to be a cake walk. We’re all aware of that, right? This is going to be the biggest, most taxing thing we’ve ever done if we accept. There’s still time to refuse if we want to. So, I’ll ask again: Do we want to take this risk?”

Kana and Junichiro glanced at each other, both trying to gauge the other’s thoughts. Kana saw no doubts in Junichiro’s eyes, and she suspected he saw none in hers. For once, they were in total agreement: this was a chance they could not pass up.

They both turned to Aoi and nodded, setting their decision in stone.

A faint smile crossed Aoi’s lips. “I expected as much. I just wanted to make sure we all knew what we were getting into. If no one else has any doubts, then neither do I.”

The rest of the group’s time at the family diner was spent having lunch together and talking excitedly about the things to come, with a brief argument between Junichiro and Kana over whose food was better breaking up the monotony of conversation. As they left the restaurant and stepped outside, Kana smelled the crisp early autumn air. Between this news and her rendezvous later that evening, today was shaping up to be a pretty satisfactory day.