Chapter 41

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Volume 1: First Performance: A Tragic Love Story Of A Young Lady And Spring Cherry Blossoms

Chapter 41: A Cross-Dressing Boy Tells His Childhood Friend Why He Quit Acting

“Eh…? Akane…?”

“…Fuu…ma…?”

When she looked up, Akane’s eyes were moist, and she wore a pained expression.

For some reason, she was sitting in front of the house, still in her uniform and socks.

When Akane suddenly appeared before me, I was at a loss for words—my mind went completely blank.

(Huh…? W-why is Akane here? And I’m not in cross-dressing right now… Could it be that my identity has been discovered? What do I do in this situation?)

As I was bewildered, Akane stood up gracefully and stared directly at my face.

Then, placing her hand on her mouth, she gave a small, amused smile and furrowed her brows in a feigned exasperation.

“…You’re such an idiot. Even though we haven’t seen each other in a while, why aren’t you saying anything?”

“…Eh? Ah, Akane, don’t you realize who I am?”

“Who you are? What are you talking about?”

Akane blinked in confusion and tilted her head.

Hmm? Maybe… she really doesn’t recognize me? I’m not sure, but does this mean I’m safe?

With a forced smile, I tried to confirm if Akane recognized me and opened my mouth again.

“It’s been a while… hasn’t it? How many years has it been?”

“Five years, right? You suddenly quit acting, and I was surprised.”

“Ah, yeah. Well, there were various circumstances at that time. You’re still continuing with acting, right? I see you on TV sometimes.”

“Yeah. Unlike someone, I didn’t quit halfway through. I’ve continued acting all along.”

“That’s amazing. Now you’re even in a popular drama. It’s astonishing how you’ve reached such a high place beyond my reach now, even though Akane has always been amazing back then.”

“……”

For some reason, Akane looked sad for a moment after hearing my words.

Then, after shaking her head from side to side, she turned on her heel and showed her back.

“…Well, I’m going to go now. I’m glad I got to see your face after a long time.”

“Wait, Akane. You’re not thinking of walking outside in just those socks, are you? What happened to your shoes?”

Though I already knew from the earlier incident at school why she was in socks, it would be strange for Fuuma Yanagisawa to not ask about it.

In response to my question, Akane glanced back over her shoulder, then looked down and quietly spoke.

“My shoes… they went somewhere. Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you kidding me? You suddenly show up with a solemn expression in just socks and expect me to just let you go? If I let you go like this, I’d feel guilty and uneasy later.”

“Since when were you so kind-hearted? I remember you being colder back in the day.”

“People change over five years. You became a great actress, and I’ve become a kind-hearted high school boy.”

“……”

“Come on, come in. It’s time for dinner anyway. Get some rest.”

Upon hearing my words, Akane nodded slightly and then obediently walked into the room.

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“Welcome back! Onii-chan, who was the guest…?”

Rurika, who was laying on her back on the sofa, froze with a shocked expression when she saw Akane.

Seeing Rurika’s reaction, Akane widened her eyes in surprise and then looked over at me.

“…Fuu-ma, you have a sister? I thought you were an only child.”

“Oh, didn’t I mention that?”

“I hadn’t heard anything. You never talked about yourself when you were a child actor.”

“Really? I don’t remember that.”

“Yeah. You never spoke about anything other than work.”

“I see… Oh, this is Rurika. And Rurika, this is Akane Tsukishiro. An old friend from my acting days. You might not know her since you don’t watch much TV, but she’s a rising young actress.”

“…Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

“Ha ha. What’s with that awkward greeting? Are you two on a blind date or something?”

After chuckling at their somewhat nervous greeting, I clapped my hands together.

“Well then, let’s eat. Today’s special is my homemade curry. Dig in, Akane.”

“Yeah. I’ll enjoy it.”

Unlike when we see each other at school, Akane seems to be acting shy for some reason.

I smiled at her kindly and walked towards the kitchen.

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“…Mmm. It’s delicious. Did you make this, Fuuma?”

Akane brings the spoon to her mouth and turns her sparkling eyes towards me from the seat across from me.

Like her, I brought the curry and white rice to my mouth with the spoon, chewed it, and swallowed it.

“Yeah. I made it.”

“Impressive. This curry is no different from what you’d get at a restaurant. It’s really tasty.”

“It’s not that great. Anyone can make it if they follow the steps.”

“Is that so? But I feel like it’s been a long time since I’ve had something this delicious. I usually just eat supermarket bento or cup noodles.”

“…What? You have money, don’t you? Why are you living on such poor food?”

“I’m currently attending a school here, but I commute almost every day between Tokyo and Sendai. I mostly work over there, so… I end up eating whatever I can.”

“Ah, being a popular actress must be tough. But why did you come to this school? If you’re based in Tokyo, you could have stayed there.”

That’s something I had been curious about for a while.

I didn’t understand why Akane, a rising young actress based in Tokyo, would come all the way to the Tohoku region.

Hanonomiya Girls’ School is famous as a school for entertainers, but it’s essentially a training facility, not a place where successful professionals should be.

I had no idea why Akane had enrolled in that school.

“…I came here to this school because…”

For some reason, Akane blushed and glanced up at me, fidgeting.

As I tilted my head at her behavior, Akane pouted and murmured softly.

“…I wanted you to see my acting.”

“Eh?”

“N-nothing!!! It’s none of your business where I enroll in school!!! Don’t pry into it!!!”

With a huff, Akane turned away, showing classic tsundere behavior.

So she wanted me to see her acting…

I remember she said something similar on the first day of enrollment to her classmates.

“My goal is just one thing. It’s to make that monster, Fuuma Yanagisawa, see my acting and bring him back to the stage… No, that’s not quite right. Defeating that monster is my goal and the greatest achievement of my acting career.”

Akane, it seems, is still the same as she was back then.

The Akane who always participated in auditions I was in, hoped to co-star in the dramas I was in, and constantly sought to compete with me—she hasn’t changed at all.

She’s stayed in the world of acting just to keep pursuing me.

Even though she’s long surpassed the child actor I once was, she’s still chasing after the shadow of my past self.

Come to think of it, Karen had said this before.

“Yanagisawa-kun, all I can see in her acting is that she is desperately pleading with someone for something. Her acting feels like a bird that has lost one wing, struggling through the void in search of the wing it lost. What she continues to seek, staying in the entertainment industry even after overcoming the ‘child actor curse’, is what she continues to seek. I sincerely hope that you will realize what that is.”

Even for me, who’s somewhat dense, it’s clear with this many hints.

No, perhaps I understood it all along but didn’t want to admit it.

The fact that Akane has been waiting for me to return as an actor all this time.

“What’s with that? Why did you suddenly start staring at my face? …I-I-Is it possible that you want to say that I’m cuter than before or something?!”

“Eh? No, I wasn’t thinking that.”

“Think about it!!!… Wait a sec. Now that I think of it, today…”

Suddenly turning pale, Akane began sniffing her uniform.

Then her face turned red, she shouted loudly.

“Fuu-ma!! Can I used your bath!!!!!!”

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―――― After the noisy dinner.

As I gazed at the night sky from the balcony, I was approached from behind.

“Sorry for using the bath first, Fuuma.”

Turning around, I saw Akane standing there, with her hair down.

Wearing the hoodie and sweatpants I lent her, she approached me with a slightly annoyed expression, standing beside me and speaking.

“I wasn’t sweaty earlier, was I?”

“Were you worried about that?”

“Today, I had more physical activity than usual, so I was concerned.”

“I see. By the way, how did you find out where I live? We hadn’t been in touch for years.”

“I hired a private detective to find out over the past three days. I asked them to find the address of Fuuma Yanagisawa.”

“…Scary. Are you a stalker?”

“Don’t say such rude things! I-I’m absolutely not a stalker!! Why on earth would someone like me, an up-and-coming actress, stalk someone like you!? Hmph!”

Akane stuck out her tongue in a teasing manner.

As I gave her an exasperated smile, Akane flashed a mischievous grin, showing her canine teeth.

“Even though it’s been a while since we last met, I’m surprisingly calm. I used to think that when we met again, I’d punch you right in the face.”

“As someone who was punched by you countless times as a kid, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t. Your punches hurt, seriously.”

“Heh. Of course they did. There’s no way I’d lose to a scrawny guy like you. Even if we fought now, I’m confident I’d still win!”

She turned to face me, placing her hands on her hips and proudly raising her chin.

After that, she gazed at the full moon in the sky again and quietly spoke.

“…Fuuma. Now that we’re here, I have to ask—why did you… quit acting?”

“…”

“Five years ago, when you told me you were quitting acting, I just jumped on top of you and started hitting you without asking why… I’m really sorry about that.”

“Oh, that incident? Yeah, that was intense… It felt like I was being beaten by a gorilla. I ended up passing out from all the hits.”

“…Idiot. Don’t compare a girl to a gorilla!”

She puffed out her cheeks and glared at me.

After a short sigh, Akane looked somewhat pained as she began to speak again.

“A talented actor like you must have gone through a lot of inner conflict to decide to quit. What I should have done back then wasn’t to let my emotions take over and hit you, but to understand the pain you were going through. I’m really sorry.”

“What are you talking about? You didn’t do anything wrong. The bratty, arrogant kid I was back then deserved to be punched. I had a terrible personality.”

“…But back then, you looked so cool in my eyes.”

“Huh?”

“N-Nothing! A-Anyway! Since I’m your rival, don’t you think I have the right to know why you quit acting!? Tell me, right here, right now!”

“The reason I quit acting… It’s nothing dramatic.”

With a small smile, I leaned back against the railing of the balcony, shrugging my shoulders.

Then, as I gazed up at the moon, I quietly began to speak.

“The reason I quit acting… it was because my mother passed away.”

“Huh…?”

At those words, Akane’s eyes widened in surprise, and she stared at me.