In the Elven Forest.

“This here is the biggest and most modern sound stage we have on campus, now.” The young man turned around in front the scenery of a big forest.

In the trailer for the second part of a movie trilogy that was going to come out soon, the scene had been a lot more magical. Now there were big blue walls surrounding the forest landscape and even though the film set was huge, the trees were nothing but stumps, instead of towering high into the sky. An enormous array of stage lighting hung from the ceiling, attached to a complicated beam work.

“Oh, look! They even have the townhall from the first movie!” A black-haired girl bounced excitedly through the scenery. Kukai’s eyes were as big as saucers looking at every detail. “But where is the upper part of the building?”

“Ah … that’s done as a digital set extension. The ceiling would’ve been too low for the whole building in here, f’sure.”

“Ohhh!” Kukai’s eyes scanned the artificial forest. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement, as she leaned over the barrier that separated the visitor area from the real set grounds.

The whole anniversary event was much more crowded than Takurō had imagined, but the company grounds and buildings were also much bigger than he imagined. There had to be hundreds of people working here.

“Will this set still be used, later on?” he asked while looking at a movie camera that was presented in a fenced area at the other side.

The young man turned around to Takurō and nodded. Asahiro had much darker blue hair than his mother and little brother, but for that he was also taller than them.

He was a working student at YūKa productions and would one day become a cameraman. “Yeah, we just arranged everything to show it off to all the visitors today. I believe that a few people will come here early tomorrow morning and rearrange it so the film shooting can go on as usual.”

“Ah, I see.” Takurō nodded. He turned around to look for Ashiya. She was lacking behind the group a little bit, looking at exhibits in several showcases arranged on the other side.

Behind her, the opened studio gate let bright sunlight flood the room, air shimmering in the heat. At home now she had changed into a cute summer dress. The fabric was white and flowing, with patterns of flowers. One of their housemaids had also tied her hair into a braided hairdo that now decorated her head beautifully.

“And that’s really Akimi Ashiya? Ashiya-san’s daughter?” Asahiro asked from behind his smaller brother.

Takurō nodded. “Yeah.”

“There were already a lot of rumors about her coming today, y’know.” He threw his arm around Takurō’s neck and pulled him closer. “But I certainly wouldn’t have believed that she’d accompany my own little brother.”

“Hey, Aniki!” Takurō tried pulling out of the grip, but his brother was stronger.

“She’s really cute, ‘ight? You’d certainly make some very pretty babies.”

Finally, he managed to struggle free. “What? No, you’ve got something wrong there! Kukai-san is her company! She’s just a classmate and Okan and I were only with her since we found out to have the same destination.”

“Hmmm …” Asahiro narrowed his eyes. “The black-haired bouncy ball?”

They both looked for Kukai and found her with Reina. She sat at a table meant for crafting small flower wreaths like the ones shown in the movies.

Their mother’s talent for flowers seemed to have gotten around. A circle of kids had gathered around her, patiently following her instructions. Kukai’s head peered out of the much smaller group, as she was highly focused, following along.

“She’s the one you had a crush on, ‘ight?”

“Not so loud!” Takurō hissed. “She might hear you!”

Asahiro laughed. “Okan and her seem to get along just great, but …” his eyes narrowed with a slight smile. “I doubt Kukai could keep up with you.”

Keep up with …?

“For the big words of wanting to see everything so eagerly, you’re chatting quite a lot and seeing very little,” someone called from behind them. Ashiya gave Takurō a cheeky grin.

“Did I skip anything important?”

“A few famous screenplays for example? And that from a future screenwriter himself … Disappointing! Just really disappointing!”

Takurō exchanged a look with his brother. Asahiro put his hand of his brother’s head and rubbed it. “This little geek has read all of them already.”

“Hey!” Takurō fought free of his grip. He heard a clicking sound and mechanical whirring from Ashiya’s direction.

She took down a small black plastic camera.

Both brothers exchanged a look. “Didn’t you say you try to evade photographing people?” Takurō asked.

She shrugged. “Never know when blackmailing material might come in handy.”

Asahiro’s cheeks began turning slightly red. “Blackmailing … material?”

She rolled her eyes. “Chill … I just thought you had a cute moment there, f’sure.”

“Oh …” The nervousness escaped his body again.

“But the camera you took the antler photograph with was much bigger than this one, ‘ight?” Takurō asked, remembering back at the photography print.

She shrugged. “Yeah … perhaps it was. But in the end, they work the same, y’know.” She took the strap from around her head and handed the camera to him. “Here: Try it yourself. Just hold the shutter button to focus and push it through to shoot.”

Takurō took the camera and looked at the device slightly overwhelmed. Was it really okay if he used it?

“Akimi!” Kukai came boasting into the conversation. “Look, Reina-chan made coronals for us.” She put one on Ashiya’s head without waiting for an answer from her friend.

“You won’t get around this as well, boys,” Reina threw her arms around both her son’s necks from behind and held them one flower wreath each in front of their chests. Since resistance was pointless, they both surrendered without a fight and put them on without any notable objections.

“Now we’re all light elves!” Kukai made a happy jump in the air. “Oh, Kanōya-kun: Could you take a photo of us?” She grabbed Ashiya at her wrist and positioned her between herself and Reina. Both of them made the light elf greeting, while Ashiya only mustered a sly grin, cramped between them.

Now or never. He took the camera Ashiya had given him and put it to his face. The viewfinder was rather small, but he managed to peer through the lens.

What was it again? He held the button, and a whirring adjusted the focus. He corrected the framing of the image so, that everyone was in the center and … click.

He took the camera down and the girls left their poses. “Show me! Show me!” Kukai came running to him.

“I fear that’s not possible,” Takurō said. “That’s a film camera. The film needs to be developed before we can see how it turned out.” The feeling was quite distressing. If it was blurred or jittery or overexposed, he would only know until much later, when it was not possible to recreate this moment again.

“Oh …” Kukai’s body slightly slumped down. It hurt a little bit in Takurō’s chest.

“Shall we go grab something to eat, guys?” Reina suggested.

General agreement came from the group, and they left the movie studio again, exposing themselves to the bright summer sun once again. Takurō’s gaze descended on the small camera dangling around his neck.

“Exciting, isn’t it?” Ashiya fell back to walk next to him and Asahiro. Her eyes lit up widely. “Not knowing how they will turn out. Just doing a shot into the blue and hoping if it worked out or will forever be nothing but a fading memory.”

Takurō looked at her. Something about her words felt beautiful. He attempted to smile back at her. “You must have slight masochist tendencies …”

A hand punched on his back. “Seems like you guys are more similar than you think.” Asahiro laughed.