Vol 1 Chapter 1 (1/2)

CHAPTER 1

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“It’s gotten a little colder…” Rei whispered with a small sigh.

The temperatures changes this year had been severe, like today, when even a suit couldn’t stave off the cold. Though admittedly, there had been times recently when, during the day, wearing a jacket was too hot. The fluctuating weather made it hard to keep oneself healthy.

8:50 AM

As usual, Rei left his house and started walking toward his employer’s office at SenaPro. It was only a 5-minute walk from his apartment to the office, and despite his complaints about the heat and cold, he’d be inside in short order. The walk wasn’t stressing, especially considering that he didn’t have to deal with the commuter’s traffic rush, which was particularly bad around his area. Not only that, but as an upstanding, working man, Rei considered the closeness of his place of work as a benefit to his living arrangements.

People who preferred keeping their private lives and work separate might have a hard time understanding that sentiment…though recently, Rei had been thinking that he might do better to put a bit more distance between the two as well. With these thoughts in his head, Rei opened the door to the office.

“Ah, Sagara-san. Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Rei returned the greeting of the other office staff as he went straight to his chair and turned on his computer. As he waited for the machine to start up, Rei checked the schedule written in his notebook, then set to work replying to his emails after the desktop had loaded.

A few email replies later, Rei finished with his computer, powered it down, and stood up. “I’m off to the residence. If something comes up, you can reach me at my cell,” Rei called out to the office staff and headed out a different door from that which he’d come in by–to enter the Sena family’s living quarters.

As the name suggested, SenaPro was a personal management company owned and run by the Senas, a family of many famous talents. The family’s area was connected to the business office on the first floor.

“Good morning,” Rei said to Nagisa and Seiya as he entered the living room while they enjoyed a late breakfast. The table, decorated with a vase of fresh flowers, was overlooked by a huge French window. The sparkling married couple, the picture of perfect contentment, sat at their table as though posed for a commercial of some kind. Rei, however was unfazed by the scene after such a long a.s.sociation with the family, and in fact, took it as quite an ordinary part of his daily routine.

The person closest to Rei as he sat down was Sena Nagisa, one of j.a.pan’s foremost female actresses. Thanks to her modeling roots, she appeared much younger than she really was. At first glance, it appeared as though Seiya and she had married years apart, but in truth, Nagisa was not young–she was actually even older than Seiya himself.

“Good morning, Rei-kun,” Sena Seiya replied to his greeting. Getting his start in musical theatre, the head of the family, Seiya, was a big-time singer. Well-known in the past for his performances in the incredibly popular end-of-the-year ballad show, Seiya had started in the producing line of work as SenaPro’s company president.

Seiya’s father was an American and his mother j.a.panese, gifting him with more defined features and lighter coloring than many full-j.a.panese performers. It was perhaps because of his background that the years showed more strongly on him than his wife. But, throughout j.a.pan, the couple was to this very day still popular with both young and old, male and female fans alike. The pair was still overflowing with so much ability and multiple talents that they had been able to start and maintain their own production business.

While their marriage had ostensibly happened on the heels of Nagisa’s relentless pursuit of Seiya after going to see one of his musicals and falling in love with him at first sight, Seiya, too, had fallen head over heels with the beauty touted as j.a.pan’s foremost actress the moment he’d laid eyes on her. Their fans therefore naturally had no complaints over the match, such a fine couple they made. Such outstanding people couldn’t possibly be found anywhere else, so Rei thought daily.

And this didn’t even take their personalities into account, as they were practically angelic in their level of kindness and generosity. To have picked up someone like him and groomed him to handle such an important job… To Rei, Seiya was his savior, the most important benefactor in his life.

“Now, about today’s schedule. Seiya-san, you have a planning meeting this afternoon. We’ll be leaving at 2 PM, so please be ready by then. And Nagisa-san…” Rei glanced up at Nagisa while he read, “You have the day off.”

“What? Today, too??”

‘Well, of course’, was Rei’s immediate urge to respond to the complaint, feeling a tic in his cheek spasm in frustration. “That’s because you declined that offer for the drama series, Nagisa-san…”

She’d been offered a role for an oft-viewed channel’s 10 PM television drama, broadcast all over the country, with a veteran director and popular new cast. Everyone could see that the program was eager to have Sena Nagisa on board to boost the program’s ratings; it had been an ideal opportunity for all parties involved.

“But none of the actors stood out!”

Nagisa had rejected the drama offer point blank after that outburst. However, Rei has already adjusted her schedule to make room for the drama appearances, meaning that now Nagisa’s schedule was full of blank s.p.a.ces with no work.

As Rei saw it, Nagisa was a victim of reaping what you sow in this sort of situation, and complaining to him wasn’t going to help. But Nagisa, as though she had the right, pursed her lips in a displeased pout.

“It’s like all the actors out there nowadays just don’t feel fresh, or like I’ve already performed with them somewhere.”

“Well, that may be…” Rei conceded, though it wasn’t as though there weren’t young actors that the actress hadn’t performed within this particular production. Nagisa wasn’t in the least impressed with any of them and barely gave them a thought, so low was her opinion. However, as Nagisa’s performance history was quite long, it was becoming hard to find any actors that she hadn’t performed with at some point or another. At her age, this was especially within the ranks of veteran actors. However, Rei knew that bringing up the subject of age was tantamount to inviting the wrath of his client, who was already self-conscious about the subject.

“Then, for my future reference, Nagisa-san, do you have any actors that you’re particularly interested in working with?” Of course, even if she did have a preference, there was no telling whether finding work with that actor would even be possible. However, if it meant getting Nagisa to perform in their productions, most TV networks and movie companies wouldn’t mind being asked to pull a few strings to make her wishes come true. If he just sent out the request, though, it may not be soon, but eventually Nagisa would definitely be able to act with the performer of her choice.

Then, if a job with the actor became available, Nagisa could work happily and avoid the current problem of large gaps of nothing to do. To avoid betraying Seiya and Nagisa’s trust, Rei held himself to the standard of never making the same mistake twice.

“The person I want to work with is… Oh, what was his name again?” Nagisa tilted her head in a cute, considering manner, making Rei wonder if the actor was really all that popular, considering she couldn’t even remember his name.

“Ah! Him, him! That’s the guy!!” Nagisa exclaimed while pointing a finger at the TV screen.

“Uh…” Rei was instantly at a loss for words after he moved his gaze toward the commercial. The reason being that the person in the commercial was none other than Ichijou Ryouma, the current extremely popular rising acting star of the day.

There was no way.

Ichijou Ryouma’s schedule had to have been booked solid for agesalready. Much as Nagisa wanted to perform with him, that was definitely not going to be happening in the foreseeable future.

“Kyaa! Oh, he’s just so cool, don’t you think?” Rei let out an unintentional sigh as Nagisa pointed at the TV, bubbling at Seiya for confirmation of her opinion, who, of course, innocently agreed.

“…Morning…” Rei heard a lack-l.u.s.ter murmur and glanced up to see its source. There, recently arrived in the living room from the second floor, was Izumi. This, too, was a common scene.

Izumi was the Sena family’s second and youngest son. He’d started university just the previous spring, although you wouldn’t know that he’d just begun an exciting new chapter of his life given the rather depressing aura he emitted. His facial features were quite obviously of the Sena family blood—cute like an idol, though with his unfas.h.i.+onable gla.s.ses and hairstyle, it was all going to waste. On top of that, he was a shut-in, totally immersed in his weird anime (LalaLulu or LuluLala or whatever). In other words, a total otaku. He had a timid personality, or rather–he was meek-seeming in public and haughty at home. Perhaps thanks to his spoiled upbringing, he could also be a bit stubborn at times.

In addition, even though he was a college student, he still had a naive and selfish outlook about the world, proclaiming, even at his age, that he wanted to be a manga artist. Rei had seen Izumi’s art many times over the years and he never seemed to improve, always producing art that looked as though it could have been drawn by an elementary school student. In any case, he was nowhere near the level needed to be a manga artist.

Born into such a family, how on earth did Izumi end up like this, Rei had to wonder. At this rate, Rei was honestly worried that the boy would become a reclusive, jobless layabout after graduating, if things continued as they were. But, no matter how close Rei was to the family, as he was nearly considered one of their own, he did not feel that it was his place to voice such an opinion regarding their private matters.

Granted, if Rei felt there was something he could do for Izumi, given that he was Seiya’s son, Rei wanted to a.s.sist him as much as he could. It was just…

“Darling? I want to act with him!”

“I’m sure Rei will pull it off somehow, dear.”

Rei was brought out of his reverie suddenly at Seiya’s words to Nagisa as they both turned to face him. “Please don’t ask for the impossible, Mr. President! There’s no way that Ichijou Ryouma is available right now!” Even if it was a request from his benefactor and even if it was for the sake of that benefactor’s beloved wife, impossibilities were, of course, impossible! Rei had to get his point across to avoid any unrealistic expectations.

“Nagisa-san, really…”

“Oh, look, look! It’s Shougo!!”

Please, be reasonable, Rei had intended to say when he was cut off by Nagisa pointing at the TV screen again.

Rei went silent. The person now appearing on the TV was the eldest son of the Sena family, Shougo. At twenty-five years of age, Shougo was seven years older than his little brother Izumi. As the vocalist and song-writer of the popular rock band the ‘CRUSHERZ,’ Shougo had skyrocketed into the place of SenaPro’s biggest breadwinner. On top of that, with his cheerful personality, Shougo made frequent appearances on talk shows as well. His popularity was firmly fixed with both young and old, male and female fans alike, much like his parents.

“……” At the sight of Shougo standing at center stage, bathed in bright lights as he sang with that stunning voice of his, Rei unthinkingly inhaled sharply.

Given his handsome features and loads of talent, popularity, and saleability…Rei should by all accounts have absolutely no qualms with such a performer. In actuality, however, Rei was involved with Shougo in…many ways–more than simply as a face in their production company; indeed, more than anyone else in his life at the moment.

It wasn’t that he hated Shougo or just couldn’t deal with him; it was simply that, when it came to Shougo…well, there was a lot of extrabaggage to consider with regards to what they were to each other.

“By the way, Izumi! Have you been going to see that voice trainer that I introduced you to lately?”

“Er…”

“Yes, and Johnny-san has told me that you’re welcome any time for those dance lessons we talked about earlier!”

“Uh…”

Glancing from the man on the TV screen back to their other underachieving son seated at the table, the two parents started voicing their own thoughts about the boy, turning to Izumi, who had almost finished his breakfast, and immediately starting in on him together.

At suddenly being put on the spot, Izumi’s face took on a bewildered expression when the topic switched to himself. He grew pale, clearly worried that they’d find out that he hadn’t been to voice training cla.s.ses or dance lessons. His eyes darted back and forth, wondering what to do and likely unable to think of an excuse on such short notice.

“You’re eighteen years old already, dear! How long are you going to continue talking about this anime or what have you—” Nagisa began.

“Oh, would you look at the time! I gotta go!” Unable to withstand any more censure, Izumi made an extremely see-through excuse to cut off his mother’s sermon. He then pushed the chair back with a clatter and stood up. “I’m off!”

“Wait just a—oh, he got away!” Nagisa yelled after the boy as he sprinted out of the living room with more speed and agility than one would think possible from such a sedentary person, though whether or not he’d heard the parting shot at all was debatable.

“Really, now… will that boy ever make something of himself? He seems to be becoming a little otaku-ish, if you ask me…” Nagisa finished, letting out a small sigh.

“There’s no ‘ish’ about it…” Rei unthinkingly responded to Nagisa’s rare show of motherly concern. Beep, beep, beep, Rei’s cell phone went off, cutting off the conversation. He answered with a standard greeting, “h.e.l.lo, this is Sagara from SenaPro.”

“Ah, thanks for all your help in the past, this is Asou from Hakutsuu Agency,” came the voice from the other end of the line.

“Oh, our thanks to you as well,” Rei returned, recognizing the name. Hakutsuu Agency was a large advertising recruitment company that often worked in conjunction with SenaPro and its actors.

“I was wondering if you could you spare a moment of your time, Sagara-san?”

“Yes, please continue.” Judging by the formality with which the man on the phone was talking, Rei figured this must be some sort of lucrative work they’d be getting and made sure to reply with all proper civility.

“My apologies for the abruptness of the question, but do you happen to know the wedding magazine ‘Happy Wedding?’” Asou continued their conversation.

“Ah, yes, I’ve heard of it,” he replied reflexively, searching his brain for what he knew of the magazine. He then remembered that a fairly long time ago, Seiya and Nagisa had done a commercial for them advertising their first issue.

“Well, you see, this year actually marks their tenth year in business.”

“Oh, ten years already?” At Asou’s words, the old, televised commercial began playing vividly in Rei’s mind. He saw Seiya in his tuxedo and Nagisa in her wedding dress–then the performers playing the little boy and girl who caught the bouquet that Nagisa threw. Just a few short seconds of film.

The commercial had been made at the height of their popularity. Seiya and Nagisa—such a beautiful couple was rarely seen, much less in a commercial, and in the blink of an eye, they became the hot topic among gossip circles. Rei recalled hearing that the magazine had sold out of several printings thanks to that publicity wave.

Come to think of it, hadn’t Izumi been in that…?

“Indeed, and to commemorate their tenth year in business, ‘Happy Wedding’ has been talking about creating a new commercial revolving around the concept ‘10 years later.’ That is, if Seiya-san and Nagisa-san might be available…?” Asou trailed off meaningfully.

“Ah, I see,” Rei made a non-committal confirmation, knowing that this was definitely something he’d have to consider.

A commemorative commercial after ten years… If they used Seiya-san and Nagisa-san for the roles again after all this time, business ploy or not, the flames of jealousy and intrigue surrounding such a famously successful romance and marriage would be rekindled in practically everyone who witnessed the advertisment. It could prove the chance to increase the magazine’s reader base among young adults by promoting the couple’s obvious wedded bliss, and those readers of the same age as Seiya and Nagisa, with children around a marriageable age, might also start subscribing to the magazine. It was a great marketing strategy worthy of such a well-known advertising recruitment company–as expected from Hakutsuu Agency.

Not to mention, it certainly couldn’t hurt SenaPro’s business either.

Even with Nagisa so picky about the jobs she’d deign to accept, with Seiya set to perform at her side, there was no way she’d refuse. In fact, she’d probably be ecstatic at the prospect.

“However, there is one condition with this commercial offer…”

“Oh?” Finding that he’d gotten a little carried away thinking about the benefits of accepting the offer, with some trepidation Rei turned his attention back to the phone conversation at hand.

“Regarding this plan, we’d like the same little girl that Nagisa-san brought in before as a last-minute replacement to reprise her role. However, we don’t know her name and were therefore hoping that SenaPro could get in contact with her, if possible.”

“Uh…!” Rei’s eyebrows flew up in response to Asou’s words.

The little girl… Which meant…

“Is the actress’ schedule too full at the moment? My client really is adamant about having her in the commercial, so if there’s anything you can do…?”

“Well, you see…” The schedule wasn’t the problem. In fact, Rei wished that the problem were with the schedule. As it stood, the problem was with the performer ‘her’self.

“Asou-san, by ‘client,’ to whom exactly are you referring? ‘Happy Wedding’ Publis.h.i.+ng, or…?”

“Ah, no, actually…” Asou floundered for an answer.

“I find it more than a little odd that your client would place such a high priority on us accepting that particular condition over any guarantee of the performance of our company’s actors, Seiya and Nagisa–don’t you?” Rei, trying to escape the current topic of conversation without Asou inquiring too deeply into the ‘girl,’ stalled giving a more definitive answer by insisting on further information about the other man’s client.

After a moment of silence, Asou’s defeated voice responded through the telephone receiver, “… My apologies for being so roundabout. In actuality, my client is that little girl’s counterpart actor from the previous commercial, Ichijou Ryouma.”

“What? Ichijou Ryouma?!” Upon hearing the name of the other actor, Rei unconsciously started, his eyes going wide. “Is this true?”

“Yes, very true. I was surprised, as well… But his condition for accepting this role is that we not change the actors from ten years ago. He has said that no matter what, he wants to act with the same little girl as before. However, the only thing we have to go on in our search for her is that he remembers she had a very peculiar eye color as a defining feature. I’m afraid he’s quite serious in his request. His schedule is booked completely full, but if we can somehow fulfill his condition, he said that he would find a way to make an opening.”

“Is that…so…?”

“Would SenaPro consider it? Please?” Asou pleaded.

“…I suppose so…” Rei conceded haltingly. There might just be something promising to this idea, actually… With such astounding timing, Rei had to wonder if this was all due to Nagisa’s impressive dumb luck, or really just a simple coincidence after all… “Supposing we can respond positively, by when should we give our answer?”

“I apologize for the rush, but could we request a response by tomorrow evening? Ichijou Ryouma’s schedule is, as I said, quite packed, so our of consideration for his situation…”

“Tomorrow evening, correct? …I understand. Until then,” Rei replied with a note of finality.

“We hope to hear back favorably.”

“Thank you, excuse me.” Finished with his call, Rei turned back to the two at the table. “It seems that we may be able to do something about your wish to work with Ichijou Ryouma after all.”

“What?! Really?!” Nagisa squealed excitedly.

“Oh my, well speak of the devil!” Seiya responded in kind.

“However, there is one major obstacle…” Prefacing the explanation so as to prepare Nagisa–who was already in a fit of happiness thinking the situation decided–and her ever-composed husband Seiya, Rei proceeded to relate the phone conversation he’d just finished. “Do you happen to remember the commercial you two were in 10 years ago promoting the magazine ‘Happy Wedding?’”

“It was an informational magazine for wedding planning, if memory serves me. Nagisa looked so wonderful in that wedding dress that I remember it quite well, actually,” Seiya replied wistfully.

“Oh darling, you big silly!”

Not interrupting Seiya’s praise of his wife, nor Nagisa’s happiness, Rei then proceeded to explain about ‘Happy Wedding’s current 10th year of publication and their plans for a revival commercial revolving around their original advertis.e.m.e.nt involving the two of them.

“And so, you have been offered a role in their new commercial.”

“Oh, I see! So? What does that have to do with Ichijou Ryouma?” Nagisa asked, eyes sparkling at the idea.

“Do you remember the young boy that appeared in the same commercial? As it turns out, that boy was Ichijou Ryouma himself.”

“Eeh?!” Nagisa said, incredulous.

“Oh my, well that is a coincidence, isn’t it?” Seiya rejoined, mildly surprised.

“Yes, quite,” Rei nodded deeply, unthinkingly agreeing with Seiya’s opinion. To think that Ichijou Ryouma would have been the child actor that Sena Seiya and Nagisa had performed with in the past! He supposed that these sorts of bizarre coincidences really did happen on occasion. Despite having worked so hard to be of use to Seiya as the manager of his business and still to have not realized such a thing, though, was something Rei was chagrined to admit. “But, as I said before, there is one problem with this situation,” Rei plowed on with the explanation.

“What would that be?”

“The condition set forth by Ichijou Ryouma to get him to agree to appear in this commercial…is that we keep the same cast from ten years ago,” Rei explained with a grave set to his lips.

Nagisa looked at him in confusion, tilting her head in puzzled manner. “But that’s not such a problem, is it? I’ll do it! And you will, too, won’t you darling?”

“Of course, dear. But still…”

“Exactly,” Rei continued, seeing that Seiya seemed to understand the issue at hand. “The problem is the ‘little girl actress.’”

“Oh, that’s right!” Nagisa finally reached the same conclusion they all had with a wide-eyed blink of her beautiful eyes. “That little girl was played by Izumi, wasn’t it?”

“Uh…” Rei let out an involuntary sigh at Nagisa’s rather belated realization. Of course, this was the big issue.

Ten years ago, while shooting for the commercial, the actress that was supposed to catch the bride’s bouquet had proven unable to arrive in time due to a rescheduled flight. As a last-minute replacement, Izumi had been brought in as a stand-in, as he had happened to be on set at the time. But that had been then, and this was now–in this day and age, the notion of having Izumi reprise his role was ludicrous! Izumi was a boy–and not just a boy, but such a boy! A gloomy otaku, who–due to his own mistake during filming that last time–had come to despise the celebrity world. There was absolutely no way that he’d say yes if asked to put on women’s clothes and appear in another commercial!

But, aside from Ichijou Ryouma’s request, there were also now the wishes of Nagisa and Seiya to take into account. They all wanted to make this chance a reality, and not least of all because of the useful connections they would garner if they could pull it off.

“For the moment, I suppose that I should try to reason with Izumi-san once he gets home…” Rei eventually gave in.

“Yay! I get to act with Ryouma!”

“Isn’t that wonderful, Nagisa?” …d.a.m.n. Nagisa-san was already fully expecting to be able to work with Ryouma again. “Rei, we’re counting on you.”

“…Yes, of course,” was all that Rei could respond with when confronted with such a completely-trusting, smiling Seiya, much as he felt put on the spot with expectations. He had a feeling that a conversation with that shut-in Izumi wouldn’t be easy. What to do, what to do…?

However, looking at the two smiling people near him, Rei sighed again at the oddly difficult feeling he felt at the situation…

Later that night…

“A commercial offer?!” Izumi’s voice rose in a wild cry of disbelief. Rei had tried to broach the subject about the current situation to Izumi in the living room the moment he’d come back home from his day at school.

“For who?! ME!? What are you talking about?! Are you insane?!” Izumi tripped over his words in his rush to get them out, while Rei merely shook his head calmly at the insinuation against his mental health.

“I’m not insane, and there’s a reason that this offer has come to you specifically. First, take a look at this.” Rei produced here the video tape he’d found after scouring in the SenaPro materials room. As the film began, the figures of Nagisa and Seiya from 10 years ago appeared on the screen. Clothed in their respective wedding dress and tuxedo, they stood before the doors to the chapel, accepting well-wishes and congratulations from their guests. Nagisa, almost frighteningly the same as she had been depicted 10 years ago, threw the wedding bouquet in an impressive arc straight into the arms of a charming little girl. Then the girl and the little boy next to her shared a happy smile together.

“No matter the age, here’s to a wonderful wedding! Happy Wedding Magazine’s First Publication!” shortly after the narration finished, Rei pressed the pause b.u.t.ton on the video.

“Th—this is from 10 years ago…” the younger Sena son admitted shakily.

“Precisely!” adjusting the bridge of his gla.s.ses before nodding vigorously at Izumi, who seemed to be stuck staring at the screen, Rei contemplated the person before him. That the charming little girl on the TV screen had become this gloomy, otaku college student standing before him in just 10 short years… It was a hard truth to swallow, but with the help of Seiya and Nagisa’s impressive genealogy, it kind of made sense. His looks had never been in question. As a child, Izumi had been beautiful enough to impress anyone, wherever he might go. At the same time, however, looking at the Izumi projected on screen as compared to the one in front of him, Rei honestly believed that the other had a graceful air and refined look about him. If Izumi had really wanted to become an idol, by now he surely would have gone far.

No, it still wasn’t too late to start! Rei was sure of it.

“The sponsor of this commercial, ‘Happy Wedding,’ is commemorating its tenth year of business by filming another commemorative TV spot. And the concept is … ‘Ten Years Later.’ The setting is ten years after the original wedding ceremony, this time with the little kids that caught the bouquet themselves tying the knot,” Rei resumed.

“W–wait just a minute!!” Izumi stopped Rei’s rapid-fire explanation. His bewilderment was understandable under the circ.u.mstances, but that didn’t account for the hint of amazement that seemed mixed in with his expression. “But I don’t actually have to be in this, right? Like if they found some similar-looking girl to play me instead?” Honestly, Izumi spoke as though Rei hadn’t already considered that. If only they could…

“I had the same opinion, however…” Rei unconsciously sighed again while rewinding the video tape. He then paused it at the scene of Izumi smiling radiantly at the other small boy and explained about the aforementioned request that the ‘actress from ten years ago remain unchanged’–and how, as luck would have it, this request was being posed by the actor who played the young boy, his sole condition for accepting the job in the first place.

“B—but… there’s no way he’d know that it’s really me. Someone else could…” Swallowing the surprise that the little boy was the Ichijou Ryouma, Izumi pressed his opinion. He obviously really didn’t want to do it. Rei knew that he could, but convincing him of that was another matter entirely.