I live my life in Tokyo

"Call me Senior Feng."

"Hey, do I have to call you Feng-senpai for the rest of my life? Can't I just call you Feng after I graduate from university?"

"That was a few years later, Mai-san."

Sakakibara Kaede curled his lips. Although he felt that the signature was a little unreliable, he still put it in his wallet.

Sakurajima Mai pondered for a moment, then said, "I'm a little hungry. Let's go eat something together, Feng-senpai."

"I'm hungry too."

Sakakibara Feng nodded. At this moment, he was thinking about the tolerance that existed in both fortune sticks, and they were both on the love line. Could these two fortune sticks be written one after the other? How could it be such a coincidence that both of them had to tolerate each other's feelings?

Back at the stall of Shiki Natsume, the store manager Sang was still wearing the cheongsam, but several female students who worked there were nowhere to be seen. They must have gone to attend the first shrine visit of the new year.

The number of customers at her stall gradually decreased. It seemed that today's sales volume had been perfectly achieved, and she would be able to start again on the second day after a break.

"Thank you for your hard work, Shiki-san. Do you have any extra meat buns?"

"Oh, it's Sakakibara-san. There's still a little left." The store manager nodded, turned around and started preparing the freshly baked meat buns.

Mai Sakurajima stared at Kaede Sakakibara's gaze. She didn't see any surprise in his eyes, so she gave up. Who would have thought that the store manager Sang would be doing business in a cheongsam?

Fortunately, Senior Feng is different from those big pigs who come to buy snacks just to see Shiki Natsume's cheongsam outfit. He has no eyes for cheongsam, only meat buns.

"Happy New Year, Shiki-san, long time no see."

Mai Sakurajima walked up and greeted with a smile when paying. She had been to the Starlight Cafe more than once before. Although her attendance fluctuated due to filming schedules, as long as the barista Sakakibara was on duty, she would go regardless of weather conditions.

"Sakurajima-san, long time no see, happy new year." The store manager Sang's business smile was now a little warmer. She glanced at where Mai Sakurajima and Kaede Sakakibara were standing and said with a smile, "Congratulations to the two of you. There is now a new couple in the entertainment industry. Sakurajima-san's wish has come true, that's great."

"Ah, we're not dating yet." Sakurajima Mai said quickly. Her worries were seen by the store manager Sang, and her heartbeat accelerated. She coughed a few times, "Today we are here with everyone in the office, not a date for two people..."

Sakakibara Feng nodded. He took the meat bun handed to him by Shiki-san and thanked him softly, "Sakurajima-san and I are friends, Shiki-san."

Shiki Natsume's beautiful eyes moved between the two of them, and she couldn't help revealing a hint of doubt, "Really? What a pity... Oh, I'm sorry, I made a mistake."

"It's okay, it's okay." Sakurajima Mai quickly followed.

After the warm food went down his stomach, the young man felt that his limbs were gradually filled with strength, but for him, the first month of the year should have ended like this.

Although the group of enthusiastic young people in the office were clamoring to eat all day long during the New Year and then watch the sunrise on the hill with barbecue, Sakakibara Kaede was no longer at the age to go crazy with the young people. All he wanted now was to have a cup of wolfberry in the cold snow, curl up in a kotatsu, watch TV and take a nap.

"How are you going home, Mai-san? Do you need me to take you home?"

"Well, take me to the intersection. My agent just finished attending the New Year's worship. She will park the car at the intersection in a while."

Mai Sakurajima did not refuse Kaede Sakakibara's offer to send her off. She accepted it with a chuckle.

The two walked out of the shrine and out of the entrance. Sakurajima Mai's manager's private car was parked on the roadside not far away. Sakurajima Mai waved to Sakakibara Kaede and said, "I am very happy today, Kaede-senpai. Thank you for taking care of me last year. I hope I can take care of you in the new year as well."

The young man was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "You have taken good care of me. Thank you, Mai-scholar."

"Please give me your advice in the new year."

The two said this at the same time, and Sakurajima Mai turned around and left in her wooden clogs. The agent got out of the car and opened the door for her. After nodding to express his gratitude to Sakakibara Kaede, he sat back in the driver's seat.

The young man watched the private car drive away quickly and looked away when the car disappeared around the corner.

Kaede Sakakibara really wants to go home, but he still needs to say New Year's greetings to other friends.

In the blink of an eye, the stall of the Starlight Cafe had been closed. Shiki-sang must have gone to pay a visit with the butler and another white-haired waiter.

"Happy New Year, Sakakibara-kun."

The only one who greeted him in such an intimate tone was Mrs. Higuchi. Sakakibara Kaede quickly bowed to the two ladies who came up to him, "Aunt Higuchi, Aunt Asakura, Happy New Year."

"What a nice young man." Mrs. Asakura seldom has the opportunity to meet young men. In the past, many opportunities were snatched away by Mrs. Higuchi. She looks very much like the mature Toru Asakura, but her personality is different. At least she doesn't start with a few riddles.

"Tohru must be hard to get along with," said Mrs. Asakura with a chuckle. This was also what she was worried about her daughter, as she had a relaxed and carefree personality. Although Tohru's idol group Noctchill was often called a "water team", this did not mean that Tohru Asakura could beat others twice as fast.

Mrs. Asakura is worried that in the future only her childhood sweetheart will understand her daughter.

"Asakura-san is easygoing and not difficult to get along with."

What else can Sakakibara say to the parents? Just praise them. Not to mention that Mrs. Asakura paid the tuition for Sakakibara, although the tuition was much lower than the market price for tutoring according to Sakakibara's request. This was naturally because Sakakibara didn't want to talk too much about money in front of his friends, as it would hurt feelings.

Mrs. Higuchi and Mrs. Asakura chatted with each other and soon learned the whereabouts of the young man tonight. When she heard that he was with Sakurajima Mai tonight, Mrs. Higuchi felt a little regretful. She should have let Yuanxiang accompany Sakakibara Kaede today. She didn't know whether there was any progress between the two during the time she and her childhood sweetheart were visiting the stalls.

However, ever since she knew that her daughter Yuanxiang had a crush on Sakakibara-kun, she allowed her daughter the freedom to do it on her own. It would be impossible for her to be with Yuanxiang all the time in the future. As the saying goes, young people's affairs should be resolved by young people.

"I'll leave my Asakura Mirai in your care."

During the time when Mrs. Higuchi was worried, Mrs. Asakura said something to Sakakibara Kaede, and now she is entrusting her daughter to her care?

"Yes, if I get admitted to the University of Tokyo, I will definitely take care of Asakura-san as a senior. As for sharing the house, I think Asakura-san and Higuchi-san can take care of themselves if they live together. If I move in as a man, it will cause inconvenience to their lives, and it will be bad for their reputation if others see me."

Mrs. Higuchi glanced at Mrs. Asakura secretly. She didn't realize that Mrs. Asakura wanted Sakakibara Kaede to live together with the two daughters. What a genius idea. Why didn't she think of it?

Sakakibara Kaede explained a few words and temporarily dispelled Mrs. Asakura's outrageous idea. He sighed and felt that Asakura Toru had indeed inherited her mother's difficult-to-deal-with aspect.

"Well, there's no point in talking to us. Are you going home next, Sakakibara-kun?"

"Yes."

"It's dangerous to walk alone at night. We will go home soon and it's on our way here, so why don't we go together?" Mrs. Higuchi smiled and invited Sakakibara Kaede, who nodded and accepted the kindness from his aunt.

Higuchi Madoka and Asakura Toru looked at each other, and she opened her lottery ticket.

"Good luck - the happiness and daily life you want are always around you, your relationship is going smoothly, keep a tolerant and inclusive mind, and you will get what you want. Your career is going smoothly, and you are getting closer and closer to your goal."

She stuffed the lottery ticket deep into her purse and clamped it tightly.

"Asakura, what's your lottery?"

"Ah... Daji."

“It feels like good luck.”

Asakura Toru hummed, glanced at her lottery ticket, and put it in her wallet. No, she didn't bring her wallet, so she stuffed the lottery ticket into her kimono.

Chapter 44: Beautiful scenery, eternal dusk

The New Year lasts only a few days from January 1st to January 3rd. During this period, Sakakibara Kaede took a long vacation and then devoted himself to the filming of Kamen Rider Kuuga with enthusiasm again.

Yusuke Godai is the person he wants to be, and he does his best naturally in every move while playing this role.

In order to shoot some specific sections of the highway, the team had to wait until the morning rush hour was over before they could start shooting. To do so, they naturally needed to apply to their superiors for a road block, which was a very complicated procedure and had to be approved in advance. Modified motorcycles must also be strictly inspected when they are on the street. The Kamen Rider's ride looks very cool, but the price of getting on the road is not small.

Sakakibara Kaede looked into the distance at the children who were playing ball throwing with their kindergarten teacher. Feeling the children's tentative and doubtful eyes, he smiled slightly. These children were too young and had never seen Kamen Rider. In their eyes, he was just a young man smiling at the cameras surrounding him - this was exactly in line with the plot.

This kind of acting, no, it shouldn’t be called acting.

This kind of performance is the most natural. If child actors are invited, the desired effect may not be achieved.

There were no onlookers around, and their filming was kept simple, never attracting anyone's attention, so from the perspective of bystanders, it might have been a video site host recording a video.

Except, there was a crying girl under the big tree.

Sakakibara Kaede took two steps forward, a familiar smile appeared on her face, and she looked at the girl.

At the same time, on a cargo ship in Tokyo Bay, a battle between a Kamen Rider and a monster was unfolding at the same time. Three aerial drones closely followed the Kamen Rider in armor and the monster in muddy clothes. The two attacked and dodged on the shaking deck, fighting back and forth.

In order to increase the speed of filming and improve the quality, the production team no longer pursued continuous and coherent plot shooting, but turned to fragmented collection shooting - this is also the core of Kuuga.

Everyone is working hard to do what they should do. They all have the same goal, but their means, ideas and time are different.

Support each other's efforts

There are often four or five scenes switching in one episode, and some characters only appear for a few minutes. For them, they naturally have time to finish filming and then they can rest in the next period of time.

The same is true for Sakakibara Kaede. Although he is the protagonist, as the plot progresses, there are more and more fighting scenes, and the time he appears in a single episode is not even as much as that of the stunt actors.

This gave him more time to slack off, which was a good thing.

“Nana——”

"It must be Higuchi-san, right? This scene needs to be re-shot." Higuchi Madoka combed her short hair behind her ears, watched the filming crew who had just raised the camera pick up the ball on the ground, and smiled as she took care of an ignorant child.

Sakakibara Kaede sat down against the tree and nodded when he heard this.

The child nodded sensibly, took the staff member's hand and returned to the kindergarten teacher. Seeing this scene, Sakakibara Kaede couldn't help but smile.

"Does Sakakibara-san like children?"

"Well, to say I like children, I do like children, because they are cute and likable most of the time... but I don't like them that much either, because I was a child once, and I know what it's like to be a disliked child. Forget about disobedient children like that." Sakakibara Kaede pouted and thought of the past.

It is said that even a seven or eight-year-old dog is detestable. He has experienced and seen a lot of bad things involving children, so he naturally knows the lethality of children.

Higuchi Yuanxiang hummed, "This may also have something to do with family education."

Sakakibara Kaede agreed with her point of view. No matter whether human nature is good or evil, it is the family environment that determines the future direction of life.

Being a parent is not easy, and raising children is not easy either.

The young man looked at Higuchi Madoka. He had heard a lot of stories from Mrs. Higuchi. Of course, the protagonists of all the stories revolved around Higuchi Madoka. But he was surprised by one thing.

Mrs. Higuchi and her father have such good personalities. How did they train Higuchi Madoka to have such a personality?

Of course, the same question needs to be asked to Mrs. Asakura: From whose Riddler attribute did Toru Asakura inherit?

"Your eyes are very rude, Sakakibara-san."

"Oh, sorry." Sakakibara Kaede coughed lightly a few times, stood up, greeted the approaching filming crew, and received instructions to continue filming.

Higuchi Madoka blinked her eyes, and her originally calm and peaceful heart was gradually filled with some grief. She thought of her dead teacher, the dangers that the young man would encounter in the future, and even thought of the day of New Year when she held a marshmallow and watched from afar the scene of Sakakibara Kaede and Sakurajima Mai worshipping side by side.

She looked out at the crowd from afar, and could hear the occasional laughter of her childhood sweetheart, but she was as silent as a stone.

This is not uncommon, as she doesn't talk much among Childhood Sweethearts, and her role isn't to complain, but to act as a brake to pull the other three back when they stray too far off track.

Her silence at the time did not surprise or offend her childhood sweetheart. She just looked at their backs from a distance, with an unknown amount of mixed emotions in her heart.

At that moment, she seemed to remember the newlywed wife in the Edo period who knelt and cried in a pool of blood of a young man, the city lord's daughter who rested her lap on the ronin who had a crush on her for the last time with tears in her eyes, and the high school girl who cried with tears in her eyes on the other side of the bridge.

Higuchi Madoka felt the subtle changes in the relationship between Sakakibara Kaede and Sakurajima Mai. She repeatedly compared it with the relationship between boyfriend and girlfriend in the TV series, and finally came to the conclusion that the two were not dating.

Higuchi Enka was relieved to come to this conclusion.

"Are you ready?"

"Ah."

Noticing the gaze directed at her by Sakakibara Kaede, Higuchi Madoka hummed and gave him and the filming crew that were already in place nearby a faint apologetic smile.

She did not return from this shoot empty-handed, having learned nothing.

From the role of Nana Asahina, she learned about the life of another character. The emotions of that female character who was passionately devoted to love stirred up waves in her calm heart.

As a tear slowly fell, Higuchi Madoka sat down against the tree, uttering fragmented words, trying to organize the broken words in her sad mood.

Higuchi Madoka tried to play Chizuru Ichinose, which may sound funny and even outrageous, but she did portray her character in this way.

"Thanks for your hard work."

After hastily filming a scene, Sakakibara Kaede handed Higuchi Madoka a bottle of water and opened her phone to confirm the next itinerary.

Higuchi Yuanxiangning opened the bottle and took a sip.

"How are your exam preparations going?" the young man asked, putting away his phone. "Your filming assignment was moved up during the week of the college entrance examination. The filming crew specially set aside that week to prepare for you."

Continuing to film the TV series at this critical juncture is not a helpless move. It is the actors' own choice. Either give up their studies and enter the entertainment industry to become an actor, or give up being an actor and devote themselves to their studies. This is not a multiple-choice question. The Toei production team has given the actors the right to choose before filming.

This empty week is obviously intended to show that the production team has done their best. It is good enough to have this week empty, and the rest is up to the actors to perform.

"There's still a week left, I have no problem."

"Well... the test site is different. I wanted to personally escort you to the test site."

Higuchi Madoka bit her lower lip, "Sakakibara-san is going to send Sakurajima-san to the examination room, right?"

The young man shook his head, and their conversation came to a temporary halt. The filming crew on the other end was waving at them, and the two of them quickly ran over to check the results of the filming of this scene.

"Your movements are a bit stiff, Sakakibara-kun. You're standing too straight. It might feel better if you lean against a tree and talk." Takenaka Kiyoshi simulated the action of leaning against a tree and made a leaning posture.

After getting guidance, I continued shooting again. This time there were no accidents and I passed it in one go.

While the filming crew was packing up their equipment, Sakakibara Kaede brought up the topic that had not yet been finished.

"Mr. Sakurajima doesn't need me to see him off. He has to enter the examination room that morning, and it's too rushed for me to travel all the way from Tokyo to Chiba... Although everyone in the office did see me off like this last year." Kaede Sakakibara recalled the scene when he entered the examination room with everyone's blessings last year, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Higuchi Yuanxiang squinted her eyes and pretended to organize her things, but her ears perked up to listen to what he said next.

"Although Sakurajima-san said that, I still plan to see her off. After all, her family situation is a bit complicated." The young man frowned and sighed. He didn't know whether Sakurajima Mai's mother would show up. If not, then she might be the only one entering the examination room alone.