I live my life in Tokyo

"You eat lamb chops and steaks at the buffet every day in the office. Shouldn't that mean something?"

Mr. Amai said with a wicked look, pinching his fingers.

"Forehead..."

"I don't mean to blame you. You should know that I am the person in charge of the idol and music areas. In the future, we will have more detailed cooperation. Don't be too restrained."

"State your requirements. What do you think is missing if you want to form a band?"

Sakakibara Kaede rested his chin on his hand and thought: "After all, we are still short of a bassist."

In a piece of music, if there is no bass, the whole harmony will sound strange to the audience. The main role of the bass is to provide note complement for the kick drum and give the low frequency an emotional color.

"Well, professional advice... Bassist? I'll go look for him." Mr. Tian Jing said, taking a new contract from the table.

"This is?"

"Singer contract, you will have an additional identity in the agency from now on... Artists in the entertainment industry now focus on personality and labels, or they are developing towards the trend of idols."

Sakakibara nodded. Nowadays, there are indeed many actors who pay attention to their words and deeds at all times, become the existence that drives the topic of fans, and present their perfect personality to fans... Isn't this another way of being an idol?

The boy feels that this kind of lifestyle is very tiring. What he wants most now is to be an ordinary actor and live a fulfilling daily life.

Signing the contract was another troublesome chore. The boy scanned the rules and regulations and after confirming that they were correct, he wrote his name on the signature column.

"It will take some time for a new band to be formed, but I believe that day is not far away."

"Well, do you still need an agent?" Mr. Amai said to himself and stood up. Sakakibara followed him out of the meeting room. The two came to the office area next door. He nodded to the reliable woman who looked to be in her twenties who was working there. "This Nanakusa Hazuki-san will be your agent in the music field."

"Please give me your advice." Nanakusa Yeyue smiled politely and nodded.

Sakakibara Kaede sighed. He suddenly didn't want to go to the actors' area anymore. Compared to looking at Iida Kei's crazy face in the office every day, wouldn't it be better to sit next to a gentle female agent and read books to cultivate his body and mind?

During the period before the band was formed, there were naturally no activities. Sakakibara Kaede once again exchanged a few social words with Mr. Tenai and Nanakusa's agent, then bowed and said goodbye.

He took out his cell phone and wanted to edit a text message and send it to Yuuma Miura. After a moment, he shook his head. After all, it was a surprise, so it was better to keep it secret.

The training class for new actors ended neither too early nor too late. When the boy arrived on the first floor, it happened to be the evening rush hour. He stood aside with a polite smile, waiting for Chizuru Ichinose.

"Isn't this Sakakibara? I heard last time that he participated in a Toei movie. His career is getting better and better."

Hearing the familiar voice, the boy's smile warmed up and he turned around to greet Qingshan Yang, "Director Qingshan, I wouldn't have come this far without your guidance."

"Your hard work and diligence are the most important." Qingshan Yang patted him on the shoulder with a thick smile on his face, which was a bit like the scene of a successful student returning to school to see his teacher after graduation.

"It's Sakakibara-senpai."

Naturally, he was recognized by many newcomers. Those who couldn't recognize him also looked at him with a hint of seriousness and respect after their friends bit their ears for a while.

The man in front of him is a man who debuted like a legend. If he wanted to get dinner, he would just become the third male lead and ranked among the top three in the ghost animal area.

Kaede Sakakibara was surrounded by many burning eyes. He found Chizuru Ichinose hiding behind the crowd and waved to her.

"People you know?"

"Well, Iida-san wants to be her manager after she graduates from the rookie training class."

"Oh... this Ichinose-kun is really good."

Qingshan Yang stroked his chin, and seeing that the crowd was still crowded, he put on a sullen face and told everyone to go back to their homes and their mothers. Naturally, he received a burst of sighs.

Many girls even wanted to come forward and ask for autographs.

"Ichinose-san."

"Wow, Sakakibara-senpai."

Chizuru Ichinose's face was hidden behind the notebook. Kaede Sakakibara was a little confused when she saw this, but there were so many people here that she didn't ask any further questions.

"Let's go to Iida-san's office first."

"Ok."

Chizuru Ichinose was in a complicated mood. She knew about Sakakibara's wonderful performance in his first TV drama when he debuted before she entered the industry. After Hiroshi Aoyama's positive description and listing him as the goal for all new actors, she had a new perspective on Sakakibara.

He is not the rising star talent that the outside world claims, but a hard worker who quietly practices his acting skills and reviews his rival scenes.

This made Chizuru Ichinose feel that Sakakibara-senpai was also a human being and was not that far away from her... If she worked hard and put in more effort, maybe one day she would be able to film a scene opposite Sakakibara-senpai.

"Are you hungry? You can eat something here first."

Sakakibara brought Chizuru Ichinose to the actors' rest area. He introduced sideways, "By the way, all three meals in the buffet here are free. It's what I told you before. It's a benefit that the agency gives to the actors."

"So amazing... so many actors..."

The focus of Chizuru Ichinose is not the food, but the actors sitting in the lounge area chatting and browsing their phones.

Her eyes were full of longing and yearning.

There was light in her eyes.

Seeing this, Sakakibara Kaede smiled and waved to Sakurajima Mai who was occupying a seat.

Mai Sakurajima walked quickly forward and made the shape of her mouth to Sakakibara Kaede, saying "Tell me what Mr. Akai said later," and then she extended her hand to Chizuru Ichinose who seemed a little shy.

"Hello, I'm Mai Sakurajima, nice to meet you."

“Sakurajima-senpai?”

Chapter 11: Apartment Named Dream

Chizuru Ichinose's reaction is understandable.

When she was in junior high school, she made a promise with her grandfather to become an actress. Since then, she has started to learn all the news related to the entertainment industry. Naturally, she is a fan of Mai Sakurajima, who debuted as a child star.

It can be said that Chizuru Ichinose’s idol during junior high school was Mai Sakurajima. She was the one who made the young Chizuru Ichinose feel shining.

Now seeing her idol standing in front of her, greeting her with a smile, Chizuru Ichinose suddenly felt that she couldn't express the feelings in her heart for a while. She opened her mouth and her face turned red with nervousness.

"Is she okay?"

"I'm so excited to see you. Sakurajima-senpai is the goal that countless new actors pursue."

Kaede Sakakibara smiled and shook his head. He took a step forward, and the two of them went to a corner and sat down. Seeing that Chizuru Ichinose was still standing there in a daze, Mai Sakurajima smiled and quickly walked forward and pulled her over.

"I heard that you two went on a 'date' last week?"

Mai Sakurajima emphasized the word "date" and looked at the two of them with a smile, especially Kaede Sakakibara's face.

A memory palace immediately formed in the latter's mind. He originally had a photographic memory, and after a slight adjustment, he quickly retrieved the archive of that day. After opening the drawer, Sakakibara Kaede squinted his eyes and looked at it carefully.

Okay, okay, Higuchi Madoka, the werewolf is you, right?

When Chizuru Ichinose heard the question from Sakurajima-senpai, her face immediately turned red. She curled up on the sofa and stammered, hiding her body.

Sakakibara groaned and shook his head. "To be precise, it was a mock date. You know my agent Iida-san always likes to play tricks. He asked me to contact Ichinose-san under the guise of a mock date. But now it seems that the result of the mock date was a success. Ichinose-san joined the agency, and everyone is happy."

Sakurajima Mai ignored Sakakibara Kaede's explanation and turned to look at Ichinose Chizuru, "Ichinose-san, can I call you that? What did Sakakibara-san do with you on the mock date that day? I want to learn from his acting skills in love."

"Forehead..."

This question stumped Chizuru Ichinose. She recalled Sakakibara Kaede's every move in the simulated date and said uncertainly, "It feels like there is not much difference between him and the current Sakakibara-senpai."

Sakurajima Mai sighed and crossed her arms, "I was hoping that Sakakibara-senpai would have a new understanding of the romance and some profound ideas, but I didn't expect him to be just like usual."

Sakakibara Kaede complained speechlessly: "I'm the one who made the reservation, okay?"

"Then you have to act out this simulated relationship as if it were a rivalry." Mai Sakurajima said confidently, "If you don't make a breakthrough at this time, how are you going to audition with actors from other agencies in the future?"

Auditions are commonplace for both of them. To Chizuru Ichinose, auditions are something new, and being able to audition with seniors from other agencies is a very interesting and challenging activity.

The boy nodded slightly. Chizuru Ichinose had a good character, much better than the actors he had seen in the audition studio who lost control of their emotions. . . Of course, she was a student in the new talent training class at the moment, and she would not understand this kind of emotion without personal experience.

"Oh, by the way, Sakakibara-senpai, Iida-san is looking for you."

"Oh? Thank you very much."

In front of outsiders, Sakurajima Mai decided to give Sakakibara Kaede some face and no longer needed to call him junior. She waved to Chizuru Ichinose, who was still a little reserved, and chatted with her about the new employee training class.

Sakakibara Kaede walked along the corridor into Iida Kei's office. He was not surprised to see the boy push the door open and leaned back in his chair leisurely, "How is Chizuru Ichinose?"

"He has good character, but the final conclusion and future direction all depend on the audience's choice." The boy said truthfully that successfully graduating from the newcomer training class is only the first step. An actor needs to be accepted and loved by the public, which is the most important step.

Accepted by the market.

"About this..."

Iida Kei narrowed his eyes, "I recently found a variety show for you... or rather, a reality show, are you interested?"

"Reality show?" Sakakibara Kaede leaned back on the sofa. This was an area he had never touched before, so he asked humbly.

"This is the introduction to the show. This reality show is the result of a collaboration between Dentsu and several companies. You can take a look at it first."

The boy took a stack of documents, and the first thing that caught his eye was the name of the project.

Dream apartment.

"Six young men and women with dreams move into the Dream Apartment. They all have dreams and expectations for the future. What kind of sparks will be created and what kind of intersections will be generated between these six people who have never met before?"

Sakakibara Kaede gave a general introduction to the Dream Apartment like a newscaster.

He scratched his head. "But aren't these reality shows all scripted? As an actor, I don't have any problem... What about the others? Are they all actors?"

"No, Dream Apartments accepts applications through two channels. One is to send a letter directly to Dentsu, and the second is to rely on luck and join the reality show through street interviews."

Iida Kei tapped on the keyboard and shrugged, "But we are different. Aren't you very familiar with Oshima-san from Dentsu? When we were shooting the graduation commercial, Oshima-san sent me an email saying that he wanted to continue working with you in the future... So, what do you think of this dream apartment project?"

"This moving into an apartment... does it mean that six people have to live in one apartment?" Sakakibara Kaede recalled the reality shows she had watched in the past. It seemed that there were cameras in every corner of the room, recording people's every word and action in 360 degrees without blind spots.

Sakakibara Kaede imagined that as soon as he woke up, a camera was put in front of his face. To be honest, this feeling was a bit uncomfortable.

Kei Iida looked at the computer screen seriously and glanced at Kaede Sakakibara casually. If he agreed to participate in this reality show, he wouldn't have to stay in that expensive five-star hotel - he wouldn't have to deduct money from his salary every day.

"Let me think about it."

The boy did not agree immediately. He needed to think about it carefully. After all, if he was surrounded by cameras 24 hours a day, he might not be able to do things freely.

Not to mention anything else, Sakakibara Kaede's life is very busy now. She attends classes in the morning, participates in club activities in the afternoon, works in a cafe, tutors the five sisters, tutors Asakura Toru and Higuchi Madoka in the evening, learns software, does outsourced work for Yuki-senpai, and plays games.

The schedule is not fully scheduled, so when we film him, the camera will probably be filming his figure in the morning until he disappears around the street corner, and after 10 o'clock in the evening, the camera will be in the same position to greet him when he returns.

"I think this is a good way to promote myself." Iida Kei said softly, crossing his fingers. "Brother Sakakibara, you haven't appeared in front of an audience for a long time."

"If we don't count the movie press conference, the last time I would have to repeat it was Tonight's 007. As an actor, you naturally have to consolidate your own personality and maintain your own image. Brother Sakakibara has done this perfectly."

"But you have to tell your fans this... Fans may not care what you actually do, but they will definitely care about what you say and what attitude you express."

“I always feel like I’ve become an idol.”

Sakakibara Kaede complained while leaning back on the sofa.

"Everything in the entertainment industry now has a hint of idol flavor, that is, the character setting. In my opinion, Sakurajima-san did it perfectly... I have also heard a little about Higuchi Madoka, who has partnered with you many times. She is a cool and aloof idol, and is the target of many male fans' fanatical pursuit."

Sakakibara Kaede nodded slightly. He recalled the scene when he was filming the daily life of us high school students and met and talked with the male high school students who were his fans in the private Toyonotsaki Academy. They were the fans who had been following him for the longest time, right?

There are some things he needs to guide his fans to do.

It is not good to just talk without doing or just do without talking. . . Sakakibara Kaede has done a lot, and now it is his turn to speak.

"I see. Where is the address of the Dream Apartment? I need to calculate my daily schedule."

"Hold on."

Kei Iida breathed a sigh of relief and bowed to Kaede Sakakibara in his heart for the money in the card. Soon he got an answer.

"In Shibuya."

"That's fine. At least it's not that far from Bunkyo-ku." Sakakibara Kaede said thoughtfully. He looked at Iida Kei, "How long will the filming last?"

"Three months."

"Isn't this a one-season shoot? I didn't expect you to do this to me right after I just rejected the audition for the fall season."

Sakakibara Kaede curled her lips and searched the Internet for information about the dream apartment. The headline was the registration column for the apartment reality show.

"I think this reality show is where you shine. Besides, all the expenses of three meals a day are covered by the production team—"

"Mr. Iida, you said... all the expenses?" Sakakibara Kaede asked with a frown.

Iida Kei sneered in his heart and took the bait. He nodded and looked normal, "You heard it right. Whatever you want to buy to decorate the apartment, it will be approved by the program team. Of course, don't consider buying something unrealistic."

The boy nodded, this production team is really sincere.

"Hmm... Please sign me up, Iida-san."