They all pushed me!

It’s customary to touch one day at the beginning of the month.

It should be finished this month. Actually, I still have a lot to say, but I thought I'd save it for the closing remarks.

The second season of Pusher's animation should be released in April next year. I personally think that the experience of making the stage play into an animation should be better than the comics. I hope it can be of good quality. I am quite looking forward to it.

It's already December, the weather is getting colder, and influenza is prevalent, so everyone should pay more attention to keeping warm and maintaining good health.

I wish all my readers the best and thank you for your reading and support.

Chapter 21: Leave it all to me

On the eighteenth day of rehearsal for the stage play "Tokyo BLADE", Ai came to the rehearsal site for the first time under the pretext of 'visiting the crew'.

In a sense, her so-called visit to the set even had a double justification, as she was a relative of the leading actor Kitagawa Ryo, and she was also a celebrity and senior of the LALALAI troupe. After all, she was a veteran who joined the troupe almost twenty years ago. If you count the time, Kitagawa Rumie, Arima Kana and Kurokawa Akane were not even there at that time.

Apart from her experience in the theater industry and the LALALAI Theater Company, Ai is also a well-known former legendary idol and first-line actor in the industry. She is a regular host of a long-established variety show, "B Komachi x B Komachi", which has been running for more than ten years. She occasionally shows up in Rumi's live show "Today's Meal at the Kitagawa Family" to make her presence felt. Recently, she has been praised for her skillful cooking skills for infant food, and has taken on several related advertising endorsements at once. Therefore, she has always maintained a good exposure and popularity in the public eye. Considering that many idols have disappeared from the circle after graduation, Ai can almost be regarded as one of the most successful idols in the idol industry in the past 20 years.

Therefore, all the troupe staff and actors, including Toshiro Kindaichi, expressed their heartfelt welcome to the arrival of Ai. Taking age into consideration, many of these young actors, who are basically no more than 20 years old, except Kitagawa Ryo and MEM啾, have chased Hoshino Ai during her idol period. After all, B Komachi was so popular at that time.

However, Ai had no intention of stealing the show. She came here today because Kitagawa Ryo casually mentioned that Rumi had made great progress recently, and invited her to come and see the show if she was bored at home. So after the warm applause in the room, she just casually said some encouraging words like "don't worry about her, there are always new people pushing those ahead", and then she went straight upstairs to find Kitagawa Ryo who was still getting ready in the dressing room on the third floor.

Because the rehearsal has been going on for more than half a month, most of the actors have become familiar with their movements and lines. Kindaichi Toshiro announced that from today on, all rehearsals will be conducted on the main stage and the characters' costumes will be changed. This is to allow the actors to adapt to the formal stage in advance, including coordination with stage equipment, lighting and sound engineers, as well as clothing and styling.

Yes, that includes clothes and styling.

This is also something that Kitagawa Ryo has always wanted to complain about Samejima Abiko. It is obviously a modern theme with superpowers and Tokyo as the main stage, but Samejima Abiko prefers to make them look like ancient costumes when designing the characters. BLADE, played by Kitagawa Ryo himself, has a standard long bun style and ancient costume. The others are better. For example, the character Shoji played by Rumi has many modern Shibuya elements, but also has ancient style attributes.

Although every character in the comics is extremely fashionable and handsome, it still requires modern actors who are used to casual clothing to practice and adapt themselves to wearing wide robes with long sleeves and swinging their long hair while playing with swords on the stage.

Kitagawa Ryo sat in front of the makeup mirror, letting the makeup artist put on a wig and tied his hair into a samurai-like bun. For him, who has starred in many Taiga dramas, this difficulty is not a big deal. On the contrary, Rumi and MEM-chu, who are acting for the first time, may need some time to adapt and learn...

Just as he closed his eyes as instructed by the makeup artist and quietly thought about something about the performance, he suddenly found that the touch of the foundation brush on his face disappeared, and after a while, ten soft and warm fingers touched both sides of his cheeks.

When Beichuan Liang opened his eyes a little confused, the makeup artist standing behind him in the mirror was already standing in the corner. The original position was replaced by Ai, who was now holding his cheek from behind with a serious look on her face, and helping him spread the foundation with her slender fingers.

Since today was still just a rehearsal, the leading actors basically just applied some foundation that would look good on camera and under better lighting. Ai Ziji was an idol herself, so she was quite familiar with makeup. Plus, she was Liang's wife, so when she came over and spoke softly, the makeup artist immediately gave up her seat.

"Don't move... Why, you can't sit still now that it's my turn?"

Ai reached out and straightened Beichuan Liang's cheek, touched his forehead lightly with the little finger of her right hand, and leaned over the back of the dressing chair to blow into his ear.

"No, I've always been done with sponges and foundation brushes. No one would do it as directly as Ai."

Beichuan Liang raised the corners of his mouth. Although he said this verbally, his body still honestly began to enjoy Ai's makeup service. He watched in the mirror as she expertly mixed the foundation into light, medium and dark colors, letting Ai's fingers start from her face, dance to her neck and then touch behind her ears.

The middle color close to the color of the face became the base color of the whole face, and the dark foundation was used to modify the cheeks and nose wings. Ai carefully controlled the transition boundary to further highlight the three-dimensional sense of Liang's face. Finally, light colors were used to brighten the face. Lightly apply light foundation on the forehead, nose bridge and chin. After carefully looking at the mirror twice, Ai clapped her hands with satisfaction:

"Ryo can go pretend to be a high school student."

"It's not that exaggerated."

Beichuan Liang stretched and stood up from the makeup chair. Because there were other actors waiting behind him, he took the prop sword next to him and walked out of the dressing room with love. He went to the rooftop on the fourth floor, sat on the bench there and asked:

"Where's Hotaru? I thought Ai would bring her here too."

"What a hassle - I asked Kyoko to help take care of him for a day. This is our rare time together."

Ai sat down next to Beichuan Liang, leaned on his shoulder and counted with her fingers:

"It's because of that little guy that we haven't traveled for more than two years."

"When Ying grows up a little bit, I can take her out with me."

"don't want--"

To Beichuan Liang's surprise, Ai suddenly protested angrily and started to make a fuss in his arms, which made people almost doubt whether the gentle and mature person who had just greeted the actors in the practice room on the second floor was fake.

"Hina has already been weaned anyway."

Ai lay on Beichuan Liang's thigh, raised a finger to him, and said with certainty what she had planned many years ago:

"Now, truly, truly - we can let Ruby take care of the baby!"

-------------------------------------

"Good morning, brother and sister - how am I dressed?"

The Kitagawa couple had just planned a trip in which they would leave the child in the care of Rumi after the stage play project was completed. As they were walking down from the fourth floor to the third floor, they bumped into Kitagawa Rumi who was coming out of the dressing room. She had just changed into her performance costume for Meiji, and after seeing the two of them, she turned around proudly.

Compared to the makeup photo that went viral on the Internet, Kitagawa Rumi, who changed into this outfit offline, although lacked the beauty service of skin smoothing and lighting, still looked quite stunning. Standing together with Kitagawa Ryo, who had now changed into the BLADE character costume, the other actors who were waiting for makeup couldn't help but look back frequently. Although it was not the first time they had seen it, no matter how many times they had seen it, they still felt that the Kitagawa family's genes were too good, and they even subconsciously ignored the fact that the two were not biological siblings.

"Yeah, it suits Ruby very well. It looks especially good."

Maybe because she felt a little guilty, Ai clapped her hands exaggeratedly and praised Rumi:

"I can't wait to see Ruby's performance today."

"Hehe, no problem at all."

Kitagawa Rumi nodded confidently, raised the sword in her hand, and directly cosplayed a line from Shoji:

"I will let my sister take a good look at my growth over the past few years."

"…Just don't get your hair stuck like you did during the private extra practice yesterday."

Kitagawa Ryo complained calmly. Although Rumi avoided having to wear a wig like him thanks to her long hair that she had kept since she was a child, this length was still quite torturous when performing movements. If one didn't get it right, it would turn into a tragic accident scene with hair stuck in the mouth.

"Yesterday was just an accident, okay? I definitely won't make such a stupid mistake today."

Facing Beichuan Liang's revelation, Rumi pouted unconvincedly, turned around and hugged Ai's arm and continued to show off:

"I'm telling you, sister. I've been working very hard recently. Even the LALALAI troupe's signature actor, Himekawa Daiki, now recognizes me. Isn't that amazing?"

"Yeah, awesome, Ruby is the best."

As she spoke, Ai had unconsciously adopted the tone that she usually used to coax Ying at home, but Kitagawa Rumi was still quite pleased. After all, whether from the perspective of a family member or an actor, Ai's recognition was something that should make her happy.

In fact, in the past two years, in addition to learning acting from Akane Kurokawa, she naturally thought of asking for advice from a ready-made successful example of transformation in her family. Although the answer she got in the end was just a meaningless answer like "I don't think there are any skills, and I'm really happy to act with Ryo", in a sense it also explains what is the leisure of a genius.

The three of them walked to the main stage of the troupe, chatting and laughing. Stage director Kindaichi Toshiro was already standing nearby, inspecting the final equipment debugging work. For today's mock rehearsal, the area was specially cleared for a day, and staff could be seen everywhere, busy and quickly checking and arranging things.

"coming?"

After noticing the arrival of Kitagawa Ryo and the other two, Kindaichi Toshio restrained the serious expression on his face and smiled, which was quite rare. He himself had no wife and no children, so in a sense, Kitagawa Ryo's family were his children.

After calling each other "Uncle Min" affectionately, the three of them quickly walked to Kindaichi Toshiro's side and watched with him the stage that was about to be completed. In the past twenty years, they had witnessed the renovation and reconstruction of this place time and time again until it became the stage that is famous throughout Tokyo and even nationwide today.

"In two years, this place will be handed over to Liang and you."

Accompanied by the sounds of various equipment debugging, the four people watched quietly for a long time, and then Toshiro Kindaichi said this somewhat abruptly.

"Don't worry about me saying I'm still young or anything like that. I know it myself. I'm already 55 years old, and my energy and physical strength are declining in all aspects. I know this best."

Anticipating what the others would say, Kindaichi Toshiro spoke without hesitation, interrupting Kitagawa Ryo and the others. He put his hands in his sleeves, crossed his arms over his chest, and still looked straight at the stage not far away:

"The LALALAI Theatre Company has been established for almost 30 years. In fact, it was originally just the product of the willful behavior of a few students from the drama school. I am the only one left among the original initiators. However, no one would have thought that the LALALAI Theatre Company, which was originally a social group, would develop to the level it is today."

"Although other troupe directors often say that I was lucky to have found Liang, they don't realize that our troupe has been updating and iterating with the trend of the times over the years, from stage equipment to script selection to actor selection, which has gradually allowed LALALAI to grow to where it is today."

At this point, Kindaichi Toshiro also smiled at Kitagawa Ryo and raised his right palm upwards. Suddenly, he realized that the other person was already a head taller than him. He wanted to touch his face, but then he noticed the foundation on his face. In the end, he chose to put his right hand on Kitagawa Ryo's shoulder and raised his eyebrows at him:

"But every time they say that, I always reply, 'What? Why don't you find another Liang?' Actually, I quite like to see those old men fuming and getting angry."

After saying this, Kindaichi Toshiro put his hand down from Kitagawa Ryo and punched his chest hard. His tone returned to its original calm and serious tone:

"After the planning of this stage play is completed, Liang will start taking over the affairs here."

"Well, I see."

Beichuan Liang nodded vigorously and agreed to this matter.

"I'm very confident in Liang."

Seemingly satisfied with Kitagawa Ryo's answer, Kindaichi Toshiro smiled, turned around and cast his gaze towards the door leading to the stage. All the actors including Kurokawa Akane, Arima Kana and Himekawa Daiki were gathering here one after another.

The stage curtain has been opened, and the blazing spotlight is flickering in my pupils in a bizarre way under the control of the lighting engineer. No matter how many times you have experienced it, you will feel as if your skin is slightly burning when it hits your body. In a theater that can accommodate thousands of spectators, this is the center of the world.

"It's all up to you."

"Leave it all to me."

Chapter 22: What? The author is warming up!

Kindaichi Toshiro and Ai sat in the first row of the audience, because today was the first time to rehearse on the main stage, many interested operators including Kaminari Sumiaki also came here and sat in the back rows of the audience. After all, compared to Kindaichi Toshiro who paid more attention to observing the actors' acting skills and stage performances and pointing out and correcting them in the subsequent rehearsals, they actually paid more attention to the overall stage effect, and the actors' specific acting skills were only a small part of it.

For most of them, when the cast of the stage play "Tokyo BLADE" was finally finalized, their hearts were also settled. Even if they only looked at the waves of discussions about the actors on the Internet during this period and the extremely high popularity that can be seen with the naked eye, it has already demonstrated the high commercial value of this project in disguise, ensuring that everyone can make money. Under such circumstances, the mentality and expressions of many people have become relaxed.

Samejima Abiko arrived at the last few minutes before the opening. She hurriedly trotted to sit next to Ai, whom she knew well, and immediately asked nervously:

"Has it started yet?"

"Two minutes."

After getting the answer from Kindaichi Toshiro, Samejima Abiko finally had time to take two deep breaths, stroked her chest and slowly adjusted her breathing rhythm to a steady level, then leaned back slightly on the comfortable seat back, staring at the stage without blinking.

Although she had watched many plays in various theaters with Kitagawa Ryo in the past two years, before the stage curtain officially opened every time, Samejima Abiko could not suppress the excitement in her heart, mixed with anticipation and nervousness about what was about to happen. The dimmed lights in the audience also stirred her heart just right, making it beat more passionately in her chest.

Then, with the reminder of the buzzer, the rehearsal officially kicked off.

The story of "Tokyo BLADE" begins with a boy who obtains a magical sword. The twenty-one swords gathered in this area will give their users various super powers. The person who defeats all opponents and gains the recognition of all twenty-one weapons will have the ability to control the country and even conquer the world.

At first glance, it just feels very childish, but when I think about the world view and background setting that was conceived in the mind of little Samejima Abiko when she was still in kindergarten, Kitagawa Ryo feels relieved. Anyway, you just tell me whether it will be a hit in the end or not?

Although this stage play is adapted from the second chapter of the original work, taking into account that there will be audiences who are exposed to the "Tokyo BLADE" IP for the first time, Samejima Abiko also briefly added some content from the prologue and the first chapter of the original work when writing the script. That is, BLADE, who entered this world for the first time, defeated and got to know other sword masters who were willing to join him in battles, and formed the Shinjuku Group. For example, "Kengi" played by Magana and "Ko" played by MEM啾, both of them made their first appearance here.

"I surrender - how can there be such a strong newcomer! Stop fighting, stop fighting, I admit that you are stronger now -"

After Kitagawa Ryo's BLADE made his debut, Arima Kana's Kengi stumbled out from the corner of the stage in a rather embarrassed manner, raising his hands in surrender.

"You're not bad either. Your name is Jian Yi, right? Then, until my wish comes true, you can temporarily become a sword to clear the way for me."

After Arima Kana rolled over and snatched the person away, BLADE, played by Kitagawa Ryo, slowly walked out from the backstage under the light, raised his chin condescendingly towards the sword ceremony and the entire audience, and stabbed the sword in his hand into the ground which had been arranged in advance by the logistics staff.

"I have to say that Arima Kana made me realize that geniuses do have something in common. You can't tell that she is a film and television actor who has just started stage performance. Just like Akane, the boundaries between film and television or stage play can no longer restrict and define them. They are simply good [actors]."

Toshiro Kindaichi squinted his eyes and watched the performance on the stage attentively, stroking the stubble on his chin, and took the initiative to comment.

"Ryo also said something similar, saying that the two of them will definitely become one of the best actresses in the country in the future, and there is no prefix or boundary either."

After responding to Kindaichi Toshiro with a smile, Ai turned her head and spoke softly to Samejima Abiko who was sitting on the other side of her:

"So Jian Yi's character design was like this in the early days? It's quite interesting. Now my mind is full of the highlights of this character in the recent chapters."

"After all, this is all the content of the prologue... The characters also need to grow."

Although Samejima Abiko responded with words of love, her eyes were still fixed on the stage not far away, as if she was afraid of missing any details. She muttered to herself:

"It's even more handsome when it moves..."

After Jian Yi's defection, the next to appear were some extras from the original work. They fell to the ground one after another under Kitagawa Ryo's almost show-off performance, quickly pushing the plot forward.

At the backstage, the other leading actors waiting to go on stage also said "thank you for your hard work" to the extras who came off stage to rest two minutes later. One of the LALALAI troupe members wiped the sweat from his forehead after taking off his cloak and subconsciously sighed:

"The pressure of acting with Kitagawa-senpai was too great. It was the most difficult two minutes I have ever experienced. I almost forgot the only two lines I had."

As soon as he said this, many of the extras who had just appeared on stage also responded:

“I feel like my own sense of existence has been taken away from me.”

"At first I was thinking about whether I should invite my family to come and watch the performance, but now that I think about it, they probably won't be able to find me when I get to this point."

"…For a moment, I felt that it didn't matter whether I was the one playing this role or not. I felt like I was a temporary audience member on stage, and I subconsciously began to appreciate Kitagawa-senpai's performance."

Kitagawa Rumi, who also heard these discussions, turned her gaze from the gap in the curtain to the stage. Just as they said, if you were a spectator, your brother's acting was the type that you could completely immerse yourself in and enjoy the story, but once you became an actor on the same stage, this relaxed atmosphere would instantly disappear without a trace.

Because of this, the sudden appearance of Kitagawa Ryo also brought negative effects to the earliest LALALAI troupe. Many actors in the troupe chose to leave because they could not withstand various pressures. After all, it is really embarrassing to be outdone by a child in a field that you have been immersed in for many years. The emergence of the troupe WorkShop (acting training class) was actually an attempt to solve this problem, hoping to attract more talented fresh blood. However, under the interference of Kitagawa Jin, it became another way for the other party to make money, and then it failed.

After Kitagawa Rumi spoke softly about these past events, the leading actors gathered here were also a little surprised. After all, they were all around 20 years old, and the LALALAI Troupe had been very popular since they could remember. On the contrary, Himekawa Daiki, who had already changed into contact lenses, supported his nose bridge and agreed thoughtfully:

"Mr. Kindaichi did say something similar when he was drunk before."

"So, from a long time ago, Kitagawa-san has been deliberately looking for or training actors who can perform with him without losing out? Wow, it sounds like there is a lot of room for talent. It seems that everyone on the stage will subconsciously want to make themselves the most eye-catching."

Kamoshida Sakuya scratched the back of his head, finding it difficult to understand for a moment, but when he thought of Kitagawa Ryo's attitude towards him and his intentional or unintentional teaching and support in the past two years, he was still convinced.

"Ryo-senpai is not looking for an actor who can act with him."

Arima Kana shook her head, and exchanged glances with Kurokawa Akane beside her. They spoke similar words at the same time in perfect tacit agreement:

“It’s the one who can work with him as an actor to create the best work.”

“He wanted to create characters and images that would last forever.”

After saying that, Arimaka Nakadashi and Kurokawa Akane smiled at each other amid the confused expressions of the other leading actors around them. After all, this was Kitagawa Ryo's true feelings spoken honestly to only the two of them, it was his expectation given only to the two of them, and it was the promise he made to the two of them.

After they both recalled the scene when they were filming "Pest" in Miyazaki Prefecture, they smacked their lips at the same time, and tacitly felt a little awkward.

After all, when these two people say it, it doesn't feel unique at all.