I live my life in Tokyo

What's more, since Higuchi Madoka is an idol, she cannot tolerate any stains on her body.

In comparison, actors are much more relaxed and will not be gossiped about when interacting with others.

Higuchi Madoka wore a pink long-sleeved loose top on the upper body and a denim skirt on the lower body. Her outfit looked quite casual, but it was actually the result of careful matching.

"Higuchi-san's clothes are very nice, especially the unique design of the brand top... It reminds me of the "Pink Dress" painted by the Impressionist female painter Berthe Morisot. The pink is soft... It matches the fair skin very well."

Higuchi Madoka said coldly, "Thank you, Sakakibara-san is also dressed very handsomely today."

The exaggerated rhetoric and pretentious artistic tone are fake.

Ms. Sato, who usually doesn’t talk much, said, “If I didn’t know that Sakakibara-san is a top student in the Department of Economics, I would have thought you were studying art.”

"Hahaha, no, no, I just go to more museums and exhibitions."

Sakakibara Kaede laughed in agreement. What he just said was a sincere compliment.

Before Tokyo's morning rush hour began, the two had already arrived at Toei's headquarters at 3-chome-2-17 Ginza, where the five actors would take Toei's ride to the film's launch event.

"Thank you, Ms. Sato, for bothering you every day."

After Sakakibara Kaede got out of the car from the passenger seat, he went to the back door and opened the door for Higuchi Yuanxiang. After she got out and closed the door, the boy said to Miss Sato who was driving to pick her up.

"Driving is no big deal. Higuchi-san, I'll leave it to you."

"it is good."

Higuchi Madoka listened to the somewhat boring social etiquette, turned around and checked her phone, checking in with her childhood sweetheart who was going to school today to let her know that she was safe.

The two were invited by the staff who had been waiting there to go into the Toei Hall to take a short rest. It was already time to go to work, and the younger employees got in early to start their day's work.

This is the case in the Japanese workplace. Status and salary within a company are not determined by performance, education, or ability, but by a seniority system.

The longer you stay in the company, as you get older, your status and salary will naturally rise. What the company values ​​is not the employees' abilities, but their loyalty to the company.

This is why many people are afraid to change jobs, because once you change jobs without a legitimate reason, other companies will think that you are disloyal to the company, and it is common that you will never be able to find a job again.

"Good morning, Sakakibara-san, Madoka-chan."

Sakurajima Mai, with a decorative shoulder bag on her shoulder, smiled and waved to the two of them.

When the boy saw her warm-colored coat and light blue top, he intoned, "This mixture of colors...hiss, it has a hint of Paul Cézanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire."

"Hey, Sakakibara-san figured it out?" Sakakijima Mai said with a smile after greeting Higuchi Madoka. "I searched online for tips on matching famous paintings with clothing colors, but I didn't expect Sakakibara-san to figure it out at once."

"Oh, that's not bad." The boy gave her a thumbs up and smiled.

The conversation between the two, the thumbs-up and the smile were seen by the middle-aged man who was holding a thick manuscript. He nodded slightly and then entered the elevator.

Higuchi Madoka listened to the conversation between the two. She thought for a moment and finally put down her phone. Asakura was about to start her class, and continuing to disturb her would only affect her studies.

She couldn't joke and laugh like Sakurajima Mai. Some of a person's personality is determined by nature, while some is influenced by acquired factors. She could only do what Higuchi Madoka could do.

She knew these things very well.

"Good morning, all three."

"Huh, aren't you late?"

The three of them stood up and greeted Ken Sano and Yu Kashima.

It was almost time, Sakurajima Mai glanced at her watch, and several staff members came forward politely and enthusiastically, asking them to move to the van.

Director Takenaka and several other directors were in another car heading to the venue. The five of them breathed a sigh of relief after getting on the car. However, for Higuchi Madoka, Kashima Yu and the boy, who had never walked the "red carpet" or participated in such an event, it was a rather uneasy journey.

There was a crowd of people outside the venue.

"Are you worried, Sakakibara-san?"

This question has a bit of a devilish tone.

"With Sakurajima-senpai here, it will never be my turn no matter how much you fire." The boy raised his eyebrows and snorted, with an upright attitude of "a friend's death would rather die than I die."

Mai Sakurajima couldn't help but recall the first time the two of them appeared on a TV show, and she smiled.

Chapter 40 It feels so quiet

Camera flash.

The boy suddenly felt like he was thinking of the opening scene of every Elementary School Student's Death movie, where a bunch of reporters were holding cameras and constantly pressing the shutter button, while Kudo-kun was looking back at the camera in a cool manner.

This time the camera is focused on Mai Sakurajima. There is no doubt that she, who debuted as a child star, is once again participating in the filming of a movie, which is plenty of material for gossip-loving reporters.

The boy stepped onto the red carpet, feeling the touch of the soles of his feet and sighed. He glanced at the background board filled with names of investors, then looked away after a moment.

He had paid attention to the industry of Mr. Fujiwara, the main investor at the time, when he was shooting the graduation advertisement, so it was no surprise to see the company under his name appear on the background board.

"Mr. Sakakibara, can you please look here, Mr. Sakakibara?"

Facing the direction where the sound came from, Sakakibara Kaede, who had been taught by Sakurajima Mai before, gave a subtle but polite smile.

The red carpet here is just for formality and photo taking. There is no so-called Q&A session with reporters, which is a little different from film press conferences in Europe and the United States.

The five people were less than a few meters apart, walking and stopping, smiling from time to time. Controlling the facial muscles is a skill that requires practice.

Unlike the others who were wearing smiling masks, there was almost no smile on Higuchi Madoka's face - but this did fit her cold idol persona, so for a moment the only sound was the shutter sound of the cameraman.

Several people walked into the venue, and the cool wind blowing in their faces made the five people feel like they had entered winter from summer. There were more cameramen and reporters gathered here, and most of them took their seats one by one under the command and arrangement of the staff.

The seating arrangement for the five people is very similar to the last time they recorded Tonight's 007, with two people sitting in the front row and three people sitting in the back row - in addition to the actors' seats, the director, supervisor, and others sit further forward and their positions are very obvious.

“How does it feel to walk the red carpet?”

After taking a short break in the lounge, Mai Sakurajima asked softly beside the boy. She wanted to see the boy's unique expression.

"It's my first time, so I'm a little nervous." Sakakibara scratched his cheek, "Every frown and smile needs to be the best. If there's something wrong with the smile, then my reputation will be ruined."

"I think Sakakibara-san is smiling very coolly."

Sakurajima Mai whispered, her lips curled up slightly, "Have you practiced smiling many times at home?"

"?"

Sakakibara Kaede raised his right eyebrow slightly, "Sakurajima-senpai, are you looking down on me?"

This kind of compliment is not a polite smile, does it still need practice?

In the previous life, he had this expression when he accompanied his superiors to meet and receive clients. He was cautious in his enthusiasm and conservative in his cheerfulness. Smiling is indeed a science, but the boy had already reached his limit.

"How is that possible? I think those smiles are very natural. There's no forced smile." Sakurajima Mai said with a smile.

The conversation between the two soon came to an abrupt end, because at this moment a staff member politely knocked on the door of the lounge, and his respectful voice came from outside the door, "Five leading actors, the program team notifies you that it is time to enter."

"Well... let's give it a try."

Yu Kashima, who had been trying to swallow words, stood up with a sad look on her face - today she was undoubtedly the target of concentrated fire. In the script, she occupied the throne of the female lead, so naturally there were many solo shots.

In fact, you don’t have to think about who the reporters’ target of fire is today.

Ken Sano breathed a sigh of relief, smiled at the boy, and then pushed open the door first.

As expected of our generation, this action and this smile are full of the spirit of heroic sacrifice.

As the five of them walked in the corridor illuminated only by lights, the boy couldn't help but sigh.

"It felt really quiet, and there were no audiences welcoming us on either side. It was quite different from the 007 show tonight."

"Ah, maybe the staff moved the audience's fighting power to both sides of the venue." Ken Sano was stunned and couldn't help laughing.

"But this has nothing to do with us." Sakurajima Mai paused for a long time before reacting and saying.

Sano Ken looked at the boy with a relaxed look on his face, shook his head and smiled: "You seem to be in a good mood."

"Of course! Everyone can answer questions more comfortably, and Director Takenaka works so hard to shoot in different occasions every day. I have to work harder too!" said Sakakibara Kaede with clenched fists.

Ahh, Ken Sano and Kaede Sakakibara raised their heads at the same time.

That’s right, everything the five main actors have done so far is not all in vain. In the future, as long as the actors don’t stop, the road will continue to expand.

Pushing open the door, strong light suddenly shone straight into the slightly dark corridor.

Several people saw the flash lights sitting in their seats continuously filming Director Takenaka.

Sano Ken turned his back to the light, coughed, and pointed his finger at his face.

"Sano-san, what are you doing, Sano-san!" the boy cried sadly.

"Uh uh ahh, time to control your facial expressions."

Veins appeared on Ken Sano's face, and it was obvious that his eyesight was very strained. Such a scene was undoubtedly a daunting challenge for an actor, but Ken Sano was not afraid at all.

He took a moment to catch his breath, a mature smile appearing on his face.

"What? I smile pretty quickly, haha."

"Sano-san..."

At this point, the other four people except Higuchi Madoka laughed. Higuchi Madoka understood some of the jokes, but she didn't understand the more detailed dialogues.

If Ken Sano were to lie down on the ground and point his left hand forward, perhaps she would be able to know what they were talking about.

Mai Sakurajima was laughing so hard that tears were about to come out. She listened to the boy's passionate performance, as if he was really a knight at this moment.

With this interruption, the originally tense atmosphere has now relaxed a lot.

"let's go."

"Ah."

Several people nodded at the same time, and then stepped out towards the lights and flashes in the sky.

Ken Sano and Yuo Kashima were sitting at the front of the sofa, a girl and a girl. The boy looked at them and reached out his hand to Mai Sakurajima again. After pulling her onto the second level of the sofa, he reached out his hand to Madoka Higuchi again.

The boy's gentlemanly behavior was cheered by fans in the audience.

Seeing that the seat next to him had been occupied by two guardians, the boy twitched his lips, facing the shutter that kept clicking, and sat stiffly between the two female leads.

It's really like being sandwiched.

At this moment he didn't dare to relax at all. Although he really wanted to pull Sakurajima Mai over and ask her to change her seat, or cross her legs and sit in a more comfortable position, Sakakibara Kaede sadly discovered that this had become an impossible task.

"Hey, the movie Will-O'-the-Wisp in Midsummer will be released in the winter season in October this year." Director Kiyoshi Takenaka held up the microphone and answered the reporter's questions. "Of course, the shooting progress has been more than halfway through and is at the end. Every actor in the crew is very professional, which has advanced our shooting progress a lot."

He set his sights on five leading actors.

Ken Sano smiled at the camera, while Yu Kashima took a few deep breaths, made a victory gesture and introduced himself.

Sakurajima Mai stood up and waved, which made the reporters and cameramen noisy. They restrained their cheers and put more heart into their work. But the fans were not so restrained. They shouted Sakurajima Mai's name and waved their mobile phones to record the smile on her face clearly.

The next person to stand up was the boy who was sandwiched in the middle. He stood up and smiled at the camera. The image of a steady and humble young man was accurately recorded by the camera.

Higuchi Madoka simply nodded, which also caused a commotion in the audience.

"These...they are really two big stars."

Sakakibara Kaede complained inwardly.

The actors sat down laughing, and the director and supervisor talked for a while. The originally slightly tense atmosphere was immediately relaxed by the actions and expressions of several people.

"How should I put it... the filming process was a bit dangerous."

Director Kiyoshi Takenaka smiled as the promotional poster for Midsummer Will-O'-The-Wisp slowly appeared on the screen behind him.

The journalists and fans in the audience looked at the poster and saw that the background was a gloomy Western-style mansion, and the faces of each actor were arranged in a table in the style of a prison photo. The photos of the five leading actors were slightly enlarged, and the names underneath were bolded and turned red, indicating their identities as the leading actors.

The boy also looked at the poster, and then he remembered that they were taken to take photos a few days after the filming started, and the supervisor told him to show a sunny smile full of positive energy.

Looking at the beam of righteous light on the poster, Sakakibara Kaede nodded with satisfaction. Only Toei can see its own value. Do you understand the value of Toei?

"I would like to ask Director Takenaka, what is the reason for your selection of actors?"

It is also a normal procedure for reporters to ask questions and the crew sitting on the stage to answer them.

"It depends on our interesting audition session." Takenaka Kiyoshi raised the microphone and answered, "Our audition adopts a four-person audition, which means that we give the actors the opportunity to cooperate and compete with each other. The topic is to play a student who escapes into a room without any escape exit, and there is a killer wandering outside the door, playing a desperate situation."

"Yeah, thinking back to that scene, I can't help but laugh." At this point, the other supervisors also laughed. Takenaka Kiyoshi nodded to the five leading actors, "Each role is determined based on the actor's performance on the spot. For example, Sakakibara-kun, his performance in the audition was eye-catching and he seemed to have the temperament of a leader."

"Is it because Sakakibara-kun has experience in playing a high school student?" the reporter asked.

Director Kiyoshi Takenaka smiled and shook his head, "Sakakibara-kun was also a high school student in the past. Although he is a college student now, Sakakibara-kun can easily play the youthful feeling of a high school student. This is why I chose him."

"As for Sakurajima-kun, her expression is indeed very profound. This is not the first time that Toei and Sakurajima-kun have worked together. I was amazed after watching her role performance. It feels like Sakurajima-kun can play any role."

Kiyoshi Takenaka praised both actors highly and then mentioned Ken Sano.