My daily life with the original diva

“Yes, Mom, I’ve caused them a lot of trouble, and I want to help out.” Nakamori Akina told the truth, but she didn’t tell her mother what had happened.

"There might be a few million yen left, maybe around four million yen." The mother, unaware of the trouble Nakamori Akina had caused others, quickly told Nakamori Akina the figure.

Now it was Nakamori Akina's turn to fall silent. After more than a year since her debut, her income was not low. Although her agency salary was only 500,000 yen per month, she also received bonuses from advertisements, magazine shoots, and record sales. In more than a year, she had earned more than 30 million yen, most of which went to her mother. But now she only had 4 million yen left.

Although her intention was to improve her family's life with this money, it was being spent too quickly. Didn't her family members have jobs and income?

"Please give me four million yen, Mom. I might not be able to bring home my earnings for the next few months. I'm sorry, Mom." Nakamori Akina finally made up her mind and asked for the money. Actually, she didn't want to put her mother in a difficult position.

Meanwhile, her mother was also worried about Akina Nakamori. "Your situation is important. I'm too soft-hearted. I can't bear to see the children suffer. I give them what they ask for. I'm sorry, Akina-chan."

"No, Mom, this money was originally meant to improve our family's living conditions, please don't worry about it," Akina Nakamori quickly explained, not wanting to upset her mother.

The two talked for a while longer before hanging up. Nakamori Akina breathed a sigh of relief, but she wasn't in a good mood because the amount was far less than she had estimated. This amount of money was of very limited help to Kimura-san. For the first time, she felt that it was better to have some control over her money, otherwise she would find that she didn't have any when she wanted to take it out.

Chapter Fifty is on a completely different wavelength.

After less than half a month of leisure, Hiroshi Kimura became busy again. In addition to attending various programs and vocal training sessions, he also needed to discuss the preparation of the film.

As the main investor, producer, and lead actor of this film, he is the first person people think of when there are problems, especially Takeshi Kitano. This guy often communicates with Hiroshi Kimura to revise the script, and even calls him in the middle of the night when he is asleep. He is truly terrifyingly energetic. Even I, a young man, can't compare to this middle-aged man.

Preparing a film is not as simple as it seems. It requires addressing various issues, and Hiroshi Kimura is willing to participate. After all, he wants to start a production company in the future. If he doesn't understand the film production process, he might get ripped off without even knowing why, which is unacceptable.

After several days of meetings, the preliminary preparations were finally finalized. The next step was to make final arrangements and prepare for filming. At this point, another big problem arose: the availability of the lead actors.

The confirmed lead actress, Akina Nakamori, is too busy; she's working non-stop and doesn't have much time to film. If we want to accommodate her schedule, the entire filming process could take more than half a year.

"It's taking too long, I can't accept it, Kimura-san, let's change the female lead." Takeshi Kitano was very direct. Since the female lead was too busy and would delay the filming time, then let's change her.

But Hiroshi Kimura immediately rejected the suggestion. "Akina Nakamori, what a huge star she is! You, Takeshi Kitano, only know how to make good movies, you have no idea about the power of star power. What terrible movies have those star actors made in later years? The bosses still made a fortune. You actually want to kick out such a big actress? You really don't know anything."

“No, Akina-san has to participate. Let’s film the scenes without her first, and then next month, when Akina-san should have more free time, we can focus on filming her scenes then,” Kimura Hiroshi suggested.

As the boss and producer, he said it, so what could anyone else say? Takeshi Kitano also pursed his lips and muttered something that seemed like he was cursing.

If it were any other movie, he would have quit long ago. It's just that Kimura Hiroshi's script was so excellent and suited his taste so well that he only cursed a few times and didn't get up and leave.

"Then it's settled. I'll officially join the crew the day after tomorrow. I'll be troubling you a lot from now on, Kitano-san." Kimura Hiroshi stood up and gestured to Kitano Takeshi, showing him the respect due.

Still somewhat angry, Takeshi Kitano simply nodded, and the meeting ended.

Everyone started leaving the meeting room. Kimura Hiroshi was the last to come out. As soon as he stepped out the door, he saw Nakamori Akina, whom he hadn't seen for several days. She was standing there gracefully, wearing a beige knitted sweater and a brown long skirt, waving at him with a smile.

"Akina-san, what brings you to the company today?" Kimura Hiroshi was somewhat surprised to see her, after all, he knew how busy Nakamori Akina had been lately, she was practically never home.

Walking quickly to Kimura Hiroshi's side, Nakamori Akina pretended to be unhappy and asked, "What's wrong, Kimura-san? Can't I come to the company? Don't you want to see me that much?"

"Ah, how could that be? Every time I see Akina-san, I'm in a good mood for the whole day. You're such a sunshine doll." Kimura Hiroshi is quite good at praising people.

Sure enough, Akina Nakamori was amused and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, Akina is a sunshine doll. As soon as she appears, the dreary rainy day will go away."

"Akina-san is amazing! Are you off today? How about we grab a bite to eat together?" It's rare to have some free time, so having a meal together would be a great activity.

"No, it's only for an afternoon. I'm going to Hokkaido tonight and won't be back for three days. I'll be going straight to Kimura-san's film set then, and that's when we'll see each other again." Nakamori Akina's mood changed quickly, and she seemed a little disappointed at this moment. Clearly, she also wanted to have a meal with Kimura Hiroshi.

But she adjusted quickly, reached into her pocket, and pulled out an envelope. "This is for you, Kimura-san, consider it my share."

Taking the envelope, Kimura Hiroshi was a little confused and asked, "What is this? A love letter? Ah, isn't it too casual to give a love letter and confess your feelings in such an informal setting?"

"Ah, what? This isn't a love letter, it's a check, a check," Nakamori Akina said, somewhat annoyed. She knew Kimura Hiroshi was joking again.

Why would he give himself a check? Is he going to be kept by a sugar daddy? I wonder how much the sugar daddy fee would be. For a top idol like him, the sugar daddy fee would be at least 100 million yen.

"Kimura-san has invested so much in this film, and I don't know what the production process will be like, so this is all I can offer. If it's not enough, I'll give you my salary for the next few months." As she said this, Akina Nakamori's tone grew softer and softer.

Now Kimura Hiroshi understood. "Wow, Akina-san really has a good eye. With you and me in this movie, it's bound to make a fortune. Investing now is the right choice. I'll accept it. I'll share the profits with Akina-san when the movie is released."

But Nakamori Akina heard these words differently. She felt that Kimura-san was really kind and didn't want her to feel guilty about this, which was why he said it was an investment.

“Just consider it an investment on my part. Kimura-san, you don’t need to worry too much. Even if you lose it all, it won’t matter,” Nakamori Akina said firmly.

What kind of talk is this? A movie starring two top idols, with such an excellent script, plus Takeshi Kitano, a future renowned director, if it still loses money, then it's really the Japanese audience who are bad, not his movie.

The two were chatting face to face, but they were completely on different wavelengths. Kimura Hiroshi said with certainty, "Don't worry, Akina-san, the movie will definitely not lose money. I guarantee it's the best investment choice you've ever made."

"Kimura-san!" Nakamori Akina said in a sweet, childlike voice, then opened her arms and gave Kimura Hiro a big hug. Because Kimura Hiro was so tall, she could only hug him up to his waist.

"You're too kind, Kimura-san. Please don't do that again. I'm afraid I'll never have such kindness again." Nakamori Akina was so caught up in her feelings that she didn't even notice the setting. This was the entrance to the conference room, where staff from the agency could pass by at any moment.

Completely bewildered, Kimura Hiroshi never expected Nakamori Akina to launch such a surprise attack. What did this mean? Wasn't it just to ensure her investment wouldn't lose money? What did it have to do with gentleness? It was really strange. Are women's minds really this unpredictable?

"Hey, hey, Akina-san, someone's coming! Let go of her right now. Even if you're touched, you can't stay here." Kimura Hiroshi quickly pulled Nakamori Akina up from his arms and, to prevent her from doing it again, braced one hand against her shoulder.

Chapter 51 A Few Things Happened on Set

He had a buzz cut, and his face looked weathered from the makeup. But that wasn't enough; Kimura Hiroshi even had fake stubble pasted around his mouth. With his cold expression, he really looked like a middle-aged man, only he appeared overly heroic.

Even so, Takeshi Kitano was still not satisfied. He felt that a ruthless killer who had experienced so much and carried out so many killing missions should not be associated with heroism. He wanted to shave Hiroshi Kimura's head to make him look slovenly and ugly.

Not only did Kimura Hiroshi disagree with this outrageous request, but his manager, Tomioka Yukio, even argued with Kitano Takeshi, firmly refusing to agree. After all, Kimura Hiroshi is now an idol singer; it would be disastrous if such an image appeared in a movie.

Not to mention that his new single will be released in just over half a month, and he will be going to promote it in a few days. If he has bald half of his hair, that would be terrible. So the suggestion was rejected by the two of them, which made Takeshi Kitano very unhappy. He felt that Hiroshi Kimura did not respect the film and only knew how to show off.

However, the problems didn't stop there. Although Hiroshi Kimura had extensive stage performance experience, he had no formal film and television acting experience. As a result, his performance was poor after filming began, which often displeased Takeshi Kitano, who would yell at him. This hot-tempered guy didn't care whether you were a top idol or an investor; all he wanted was a good movie.

"Cut, conflicted, you know? You've been killing people all this time, and now suddenly a familiar little girl is asking you for help. The conflict and panic you show is a disaster. You act like a child who needs to pee, jumping up and down in a panic."

Takeshi Kitano roared angrily on set. This scene had already been NG'd five times. He had even personally demonstrated it, but Hiroshi Kimura's performance still didn't satisfy him.

Nearby, Akina Nakamori, who was waiting for her scene, couldn't help but laugh when she heard Takeshi Kitano's strange analogy. However, Kitano caught her laughing immediately.

"Ms. Nakamori, I can now confirm that those media outlets are lying. You don't look like a delinquent girl at all. Where is the rebellious vibe you have when you sing 'Girl A'? Are you playing the innocent girl next door?" She started criticizing right away, completely ruining Nakamori Akina's smile.

If the supervisor is not satisfied, filming has to be paused. Takeshi Kitano pulls Hiroshi Kimura and Akina Nakamori aside and teaches them acting techniques. He doesn't just criticize them; knowing that Kimura and the others are newcomers, he generously shares his insights.

Hiroshi Kimura knew his acting skills were poor, so he wasn't bothered by Takeshi Kitano's tirade. After all, he knew Kitano had a bad temper and that it was normal for him to swear.

But this guy really has real skills. As a director for the first time, he managed the set very well, and there were no problems during filming. Not to mention his acting guidance, it was truly a valuable experience for him.

After the private tutoring session, Kimura Hiroshi's performance improved significantly. Since his reawakening, he has learned everything very quickly. Nakamori Akina is no less impressive; she is truly talented, no wonder her stage performance has become top-notch in less than two years.

This young woman, who is about to become the queen of cuisine, seems to have a serious problem with her literacy. Sometimes she can't even understand the script, can't remember her lines, and often gets the meaning of words wrong, leaving everyone present completely confused and wondering what her lines mean, which has led to quite a few laughs.

Left with no other choice, Hiroshi Kimura could only provide on-set instruction to make up for her lack of cultural knowledge. Akina Nakamori, on the other hand, was learning with great interest, calling him "teacher" repeatedly and acting quite quirky.

Filming continued until dusk. Nakamori Akina left early because she had to go to a TV program that night, while Kimura Hiro stayed behind to film other scenes with the other actors. They filmed until eight or nine o'clock in the evening before finally ending their day's work.

On the way back, Hiroshi Kimura found a comfortable position and slumped down, while his manager, Yukio Tomioka, discussed the upcoming work with him.

"Kimura-san, your new single Gaining Through Losing is confirmed to be released on November 6th. That means you need to start promotional activities ten days in advance, including six TV programs, eight radio programs, and three magazine photoshoots."

These announced programs don't even include the ones he was originally scheduled to appear on. In other words, his workload would increase three or four times in the next month. On top of that, he also had to film a movie. Kimura Hiroshi felt his scalp tingling.

"Could you turn down some, Mr. Tomioka?" Kimura Hiroshi said in a consultative tone.

The answer was naturally a refusal. Yukio Tomioka said earnestly, "Kimura-san, this is already the bare minimum. If it's any less, it's probably difficult to achieve any promotional effect. I don't think you want your second single to sell less than a million copies, do you?"

"And what you're describing isn't even that heavy. Akina-san has appeared on over twenty TV shows and seventeen radio programs in just one month, not to mention her magazine photoshoots."

Upon hearing this terrifying number, Kimura Hiroshi could only exclaim in amazement, "Good heavens!" These Japanese talent agencies really don't treat their artists like human beings. They seem to be afraid that the artists will have time to rest, and they make them do everything they can to promote their work, with shows running non-stop.

"Hey, hey, isn't this going a bit too far? Akina-san's health isn't very good. If this continues, aren't you afraid of damaging her health? In that case, it'll be the agency and record company that suffer losses." Kimura Hiroshi couldn't help but speak up.

However, Yukio Tomioka didn't take it seriously. "Kimura-san, you're an exception, that's why you can be so relaxed. Which popular idol isn't like this? If your body can't handle it, that's the artist's problem, not the agency or record company's problem."

Without saying a word, Kimura Hiroshi knew that telling these people, who were used to rolling around like crazy, to slow down was just talking nonsense and completely unnecessary. Nakamori Akina had to bear this on her own, since she herself hadn't suggested stopping some activities, so Kimura Hiroshi couldn't say much.

"By the way, the outside world already knows you're filming a movie, and there are all sorts of rumors circulating in the media right now. It's time to hold a press conference to let your fans know the situation," Yukio Tomioka said, adding another point.

Normally, a press conference is held before filming begins to answer reporters' questions, which is a form of publicity. However, Hiroshi Kimura did not do this because if a press conference were held, reporters would know that he was an investor and that he wrote the script, and who knows what they might say.

To think that a young man like him is writing songs, singing, and now even writing scripts to act in movies—how can he be so capable? Either it's fake, or it's garbage. It's really hard to tell whether this is publicity or a smear campaign.

"Let's skip the press conference. We can send the message to the media outlets we have a good relationship with, briefly explaining our filming plans. As for the fans, I'll personally write to their fan club and tell them what I'm doing." Kimura Hiroshi quickly finalized his plan; he didn't want to face those boring and malicious reporters.

Chapter 52 Being Targeted Again

Hiroshi Kimura, one of the most popular male idols, is currently filming a movie. As expected, this news sparked a huge discussion after it was leaked. The media, like cats smelling fish, immediately swarmed around, wanting to find out what movie Hiroshi Kimura was filming and what inside information was involved.

One has to admire the Japanese paparazzi; their investigative abilities are comparable to hunting dogs. In just two days, they uncovered a great deal of information. After all, making a movie involves many people, so keeping it secret is simply impossible.

The media immediately broke out all the information they knew. This was a crucial time to boost sales, and they absolutely couldn't fall behind others, or they wouldn't even get a taste of the profits.

They discovered that Hiroshi Kimura was playing a middle-aged assassin, and that he was paired with Akina Nakamori, a top female idol from the same agency. As for the plot of the movie, they didn't know anything, but they did know that the script was written by Hiroshi Kimura and the director was an unknown Fuji TV program planner, Takeshi Kitano.

Even with just this little bit of information, they've managed to generate a ton of news and articles, such as claims that Kimura Hiroshi is neglecting his duties, having debuted as a singer less than six months ago and now going on to act in movies, even writing his own scripts, which he believes will be terrible, hence the hiring of this unknown director.

For example, Ken-On really favors Hiro Kimura. They actually pulled their agency's top female idol, Akina Nakamori, into such a terrible drama. This clearly shows that they value Hiro Kimura more. At this moment, they suddenly remembered to stand up for Akina Nakamori and completely forgot how they had previously smeared her.

For example, this is a movie that Hiroshi Kimura deliberately requested to be made in order to woo his senior, Akina Nakamori. His motives were impure, and he was clearly another playboy.

In short, apart from media outlets that are relatively friendly to Ken-On and Hiroshi Kimura, there are basically no good things to say. This is because Hiroshi Kimura has long refused their interviews, so it is virtually impossible to get them to say anything good. When they get the chance, they will do everything they can to smear him, plus create hype to increase sales and popularity.

Compared to the media's relentless pursuit of discrediting Hiroshi Kimura, ordinary people are filled with curiosity and anticipation for his film. They know it's an action movie, with a popular male idol playing a middle-aged assassin—what a peculiar premise! Japanese people love this kind of thing.

Even Akina Nakamori's fans are looking forward to it, because they have heard that the character played by Akina Nakamori will also carry out assassination missions with an assassin. Ah, a female assassin! Just thinking about it makes them feel very excited, and they all say they want to watch it.

In short, this movie became a huge hit without any formal promotion, which is the effect of top idols. They bring a large group of fans with them, and these people are most likely to become box office draws. This is also why even if the acting skills of traffic stars are terrible, they can still be used in later generations.

As Kimura Hiroshi's popularity soared, some unexpected people also took notice of him, such as the Weekly Bunshun magazine, which focuses on exposing various scandals. They love all kinds of explosive news, especially scandals, whether from the political, business, or entertainment industries.

Moreover, it always breaks scandals after obtaining crucial evidence, which makes the scandals exposed by Weekly Bunshun very credible and makes it very popular among gossip enthusiasts.

Even more than forty years later, with the advent of the internet age, while other magazines either went bankrupt or faced operational difficulties, it remained incredibly popular by exposing various scandals. Gossip lovers eagerly awaited what kind of bombshells it would reveal every day.

Now they've set their sights on Hiroshi Kimura, currently the hottest male idol. There are many articles and reports criticizing him, but none of them have any substantial evidence.

"Wow, this Kimura Hiroshi is really incredibly popular. I've seen at least forty entertainment media outlets talking about him, and a lot of it is negative stuff. Why is he still so popular and successful?" asked Suzuki Saburo, a veteran paparazzi from Weekly Bunshun, somewhat incredulously.

While reviewing the complaint letters sent from various places, her colleague, Higashimatsu Eri, said nonchalantly, "Ah, it's probably because that kid is handsome, has a pretty good singing voice, and is very popular with girls. Besides, the negative stories written by these media outlets are too crude and unreliable, so they have very limited impact on him."

“Is that so? Then why don’t we write about him? He’s so popular right now. If we can dig up his scandals, we’ll definitely make a fortune. Do you have any insider information about him?” Suzuki Saburo suddenly perked up.

These media paparazzi actually have a slightly perverse hobby: they like to drag seemingly perfect celebrities who are at the top of their careers down to the bottom and see them looking dejected and lost. They get a strange sense of accomplishment from seeing this.

With so many people criticizing Kimura Hiroshi, there are naturally a lot of rumors about him. When Suzuki Saburo asked, Higashi Masaru quickly found them, and there were actually hundreds of them. However, after looking through them, most of them were nonsense and completely fabricated. One of them even claimed that he had a child with Kimura Hiroshi five or six years ago. But Kimura Hiroshi was only eleven or twelve years old five or six years ago. How could he have a child with someone?

However, some of the claims seem quite well-founded. One such claim comes from a source in Saitama Prefecture, Kimura Hiroshi's hometown. The source claims to be Kimura Hiroshi's classmate, saying that Kimura Hiroshi was very withdrawn from a young age and became a delinquent after entering middle school, unlike his seemingly sunny personality.

Moreover, he was 100% certain that Hiroshi Kimura had never taken any music composition courses and could not possibly write songs; the two songs he sang must have been written by someone and then given to him.

“Some media outlets have said that a teenager couldn’t write such music, and it seems that there’s some truth to that. Look at this exposé, it says he has never studied music composition, there’s probably a huge scandal involved. I’ve decided to go to Saitama Prefecture to investigate, what do you think?”