Chapter 10

In the blink of an eye, a week and a half had passed since the meeting where they discussed the production schedule. Junichiro spent most of the rest of that week resting and recovering from wrapping up No Matter How Far in preparation of the project ahead. He spent two days hanging out with Renji, two days messaging back and forth with Kanae all day, one day he spent just lounging around his apartment and doing chores, and one particularly interesting day he spent exploring a new mall as Naoya.

The plans he’d made with Kanae at the end of their last rendezvous unfortunately fell through when he got called in to do costume fittings and a script readthrough, which ate up his weekend and prevented him from being available for their plans. Luckily, something came up on Kanae’s end as well, so Junichiro didn’t have to live with the guilt of blowing off their plans for work. He resolved himself to the idea of being the one in charge of coming up with a good idea for their next outing, something really special that would blow her away.

The costume fitting that he had to go to was simple enough. It was mostly just the costume and props team measuring each of the actors and adjusting the costumes accordingly. Though, he and Kana both had to be wary about where Saki put her hands during the measurement process. Thankfully, most of the costumes and outfits had been designed with them in mind, so there weren’t too many alterations to be made.

The script readthrough on the other hand was a little more strenuous. It was a long and arduous process that required his and Kana’s full attention for much of that day. Needless to say, being forced to be around each other for that long was not very good for their mutual disdain for each other. Junichiro was not shy about correcting Kana whenever she mispronounced something or misspoke, and Kana was, annoyingly, not shy about returning the favor.

Another thing that contributed to the stress of the situation was that several other actors who would be getting involved with the production of Monochrome Masquerade later on were coming by the studio to meet with Ginzo the same day Junichiro and Kana were doing their script readthrough, so they had to try to be on their best behavior. Junichiro caught wind of several of the names of the actors from one of the production crew members, many of which were familiar. Most notable among them was Mitsuo Kondo, the man who was largely seen as the industry’s golden boy. Some part of Junichiro worried that Ginzo had gotten tired of him and that Mitsuo was there to replace him. He knew his worries were unfounded though, since the agency would never stand for something like that.

Just as Ginzo had said it would, filming began in earnest a week from the Monday that the meeting at the studio was held. The shoots were difficult, pushing Junichiro to the very limits of his skill as an actor. He noticed Kana struggling at times as well, which was half-cathartic, half-worrying. The first day of filming was particularly rough for both of them, since they were both a little out of practice from their rest period after No Matter How Far finished production.

That’s not to say that it was all bad, however. Despite the fact that this production was among the most difficult things he’d done, he was enjoying himself. He was getting to work with Ginzo Hoshina, one of the people he admired most in the world. Even if he was one of the strangest people Junichiro had ever met, it was hard to become disillusioned with him when he was still one of the most brilliant directors Junichiro had ever seen. He was learning more from Ginzo than he had dared to hope he would.

He even noticed Kana picking up a few things from their time with Ginzo. She was finally improving in places that Junichiro had long told her she needed to improve. With Ginzo’s direction, she was getting better at getting herself into character, as well as learning to hit the delivery of her lines more effectively. As much as he hated to admit it, it was impressive how quickly Kana was improving with proper guidance. It kind of made him a little self-conscious, in truth.

In addition to the experience he was gaining while working with Ginzo, Junichiro also had his budding relationship with Kanae to think about. Over the course of the first two days of filming, Junichiro managed to come up with a solution to the problem of not knowing where he wanted to take Kanae on their next outing. He had elected to take a different path to the studio one day and passed by a small, yet tranquil park called Aimai Park. As soon as he laid eyes on it, he knew it was the perfect place if he really wanted to wow Kanae.

That night, Junuchiro messaged her to try to decide on a time when they would both be available. His schedule was quickly becoming more hectic as production ramped up and his usual responsibilities began trickling back into his life. On top of having to deal with the stresses and duties that came with the production of Monochrome Masquerade, Junichiro also had to cope with the usual talk-shows, interviews, and commercial deals that plagued his schedule on an almost constant basis.

His schedule was utterly consumed for much of the next few weeks up to the point of the trip to Okinawa that Ginzo told them about. Junichiro almost lost hope of being able to find an open slot where he could spend time with Kanae until a ray of light shone through the darkness of his workload. There was a brief period of a few hours around lunchtime on Wednesday that he would be able to keep open. It was short notice, but after discussing it with Kanae, the plan to meet at the station near Aimai Park at lunchtime on Wednesday was solidified. After those plans had finally been put into place, Junichiro breathed a sigh of relief and felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He could’ve sworn that he slept more soundly than usual that night.