They all pushed me!

"I watched Kamen Rider Blade when I was very young, I remember..."

Sato Ruma had just said a few words excitedly when she saw Takahashi Yuya across from her waving his hand, indicating that his question-and-answer session was over.

"The first round of auditions for the main rider ends here. After the auditions, you can return to the main venue to rest. Actors who want to audition for other roles can also go to other rooms for auditions according to the notice. But please note that an actor can only audition for three roles including the main rider at most. If you have any questions or need help, you can always ask the nearest staff member."

"Of course, if you have no intention of auditioning for other roles, you can choose to leave on your own. The notification on whether you are eligible to enter the second round of individual auditions will be sent to your agency account via email tonight."

The five people, including Beichuan Liang, bowed at the same time to express their gratitude, and then quietly walked out of the room.

They passed by the next group of five people who were auditioning for the main role. Except for Kitagawa Ryo and Sato Ruma, the other three immediately began preparing for the auditions for other roles, either asking something in a low voice to the staff nearby, or nervously flipping through the materials on the table, hoping to gain as much favor as possible from the production team.

“Is this your first audition?”

Seeing that Sato Ruya seemed completely unfamiliar with the venue and procedures, Kitagawa Ryo asked curiously.

He had actually felt it during the audition just now. Although this young man, who looked only a few years older than him, behaved like a newcomer in every way, he was actually not a 'newcomer' in the traditional sense. He did not look immature or nervous at all, and his conversation with the production team was quite natural.

Moreover, the transformation action of shaking the flower hands really left a deep impression on Beichuan Liang. This is not something that a socially phobic person can do.

"Yes, Kitagawa-senpai."

Sato Ruma didn't expect that Kitagawa Ryo would talk to him. After a moment of silence, he quickly nodded and replied. Although he was a few years older than Kitagawa Ryo, Kitagawa entered the industry much earlier than him, so he also used honorifics.

But the business-like smile on his face immediately fell as if returning to his true nature:

"I only had one year of cabaret experience before that."

"No wonder……"

Beichuan Liang nodded in understanding. He stepped forward and smiled as he gave his suggestion:

"What you just showed in the audition was not your acting skills in portraying the character, but yourself. This is a good strategy."

As he said this, he pointed out the room on the other side:

"Go this way, and if you keep this mindset and try the second rider's audition, you might get a surprise."

"I see. Thank you for your advice."

Sato Ruma bowed again. He looked at Beichuan Ryo who walked straight out of the field after saying this, and asked with some doubt:

"Don't you plan to try out other roles, Kitagawa-senpai?"

"No."

Beichuan Ryo waved his hand, turned around, and gave Sato Ruya a confident smile:

"The only character I'm after is the main rider, Ukiyo Hidetoshi."

Facing Kitagawa Ryo's smile, Sato Ruya suddenly felt an inexplicable feeling in her heart. As the center of an idol group, she was already accustomed to being enveloped by the huge beam of light from the central spotlight on the stage.

But it was the first time that he saw such a person in real life. It seemed that he did not need any spotlight or accompaniment, but could shine on his own and easily attract the attention of others.

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

"Brother is going to play Kamen Rider?"

After finishing the first round of auditions, Kitagawa Ryo, who had just returned home, was asked a question by his sister who was still waiting at the entrance.

"I haven't even written my horoscope yet."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head slightly. He took the slippers handed to him by Rumi, put on his shoes, closed the door, and answered as he walked into the living room.

"By the way, isn't Ruby not very interested in these?"

Beichuan Liang filled himself a glass of water from the water dispenser in the living room, took two sips to moisten his throat, and then asked this question.

In his impression, Kitagawa Rumi is basically not as keen on special effects series or works such as Pretty Cure as other children of the same age. Instead, she is always concerned about the latest trends in the idol world. Many times, she will specifically look for the representative songs and live videos of the most popular idol groups recently to watch and learn.

Kitagawa Ryo can feel that his sister is seriously preparing and moving forward towards the path of becoming an idol. It is not just a passing fad, and it has been like this since a long time ago.

In terms of dance, Kitagawa Ryoya enrolled Rumi in systematic and professional private courses at an early stage at her request. After several years of training, she has become quite good at it.

As for singing, that is another sad topic.

In stark contrast to his talent in dancing, even though Kitagawa Ryo has a real filter wall towards his sister that is so thick that it can't be called a filter anymore, it is difficult for him to give too much unwilling praise to Rumi's singing voice.

"I didn't watch it before, but if my brother participated in it, I would definitely watch every episode without missing a single one."

Kitagawa Rumi waved her fist as she spoke, looking up with a proud look on her face:

"Then I'll tell school that I have a brother who's a Kamen Rider."

Unable to help but be amused by his sister's expression and words, Kitagawa Ryo also chuckled and rubbed Rumi's head:

"Even if it's just to fulfill Ruby's wish, I will definitely work hard to get this role."

"Great!"

Kitagawa Rumi was enjoying the intimate pat on the head from her brother, while looking up at her little face and asking:

"What kind of role will my brother play this time?"

"Hmm...Based on the information I have now, he should be considered a 'liar'?"

"fraud?"

Kitagawa Rumi repeated it with some doubt. Although she had not watched many special effects series, in her imagination, the protagonists of such works were usually undoubted heroes, which was completely inconsistent with the negative description of "liar".

"Yeah, he's like a fox, and he's very good at deceiving people."

Beichuan Liang flicked his sister's forehead with his finger, leaned over and added half jokingly and half instructively:

"In nature, the more beautiful an animal is, the more dangerous it is and the more likely it is to deceive people."

Perhaps because of the initial motivation and self-cognition, although she has lived under the same roof with Kitagawa Ryo for eight or nine years, Kitagawa Rumi is often captured by the charm that the other party inadvertently displays in his every move.

"If it's my brother——"

Kitagawa Rumi had just said half of her words when she was interrupted by the vibration of Kitagawa Ryo's cell phone in her pocket.

"Ruby, go take a shower first. I have something to do here."

"……All right."

She agreed with a pout. Kitagawa Rumi didn't want to repeat what she had just said. She just walked to the sofa in her slippers, took the clean clothes that Kitagawa Ryo had folded in advance, and ran into the bathroom alone.

"I passed the first round of auditions! How's Ryo?"

The moment Kitagawa Ryo answered the phone, he heard the familiar voice of Hoshino Ai, accompanied by the whirring sound of a hair dryer. It seemed that she had just taken a shower and was drying her hair when she received the notice from the agency.

Just when Kitagawa Ryo was about to reply that he had not received any notification, he saw an email just forwarded by Mr. Izaki, indicating that he had also passed the first round of auditions and needed to participate in the second round of auditions at a certain time and place later.

"I passed too."

After receiving the exact news, Beichuan Liang also answered affirmatively, and then asked:

"Are you blow-drying your hair? I can hear the sound."

"Yeah, it's really troublesome to take care of long hair."

Hoshino Ai sighed on the other end of the phone, and then Kitagawa Ryo heard a ding from his phone, indicating that his personal account had received a message from 'Ai'.

While still on the phone, Kitagawa Ryo clicked on it and saw that it was a photo that Hoshino Ai had just taken.

Perhaps because of the lighting and the filter, her long purple hair took on a jet-black crow feather color, draped over Hoshino Ai's chest and shoulders in a misty manner. Although the pure white pajamas were formal in style, they still outlined the graceful curves of her upper body. It seemed that because it was a little hot, two buttons near the collar were undone, and her two small white collarbones were faintly visible.

From the angle of the camera, it can be seen that Hoshino Ai stretched out her right hand and held up the mobile phone to take the photo. Her skin was fair and a little rosy after just taking a shower. Her left hand made a cute "yeah" gesture beside her face, and she held a hairband in her mouth.

"How many roles did Ai audition for this time?"

Kitagawa Ryo subconsciously pressed and held the picture to save it, but he continued to chat with Hoshino Ai as if nothing had happened.

"There are only two main female characters in this drama, Tsumurai, who serves as the game guide, and Kurama Yaon, the transformer of Kamen Rider Na-Go."

Perhaps because she found it novel, Hoshino Ai also talked with Kitagawa Ryo about the settings of the first few episodes of "Kamen Rider Polar Fox" with great interest.

"The contestants who are chosen to become Kamen Riders each make their own wishes and participate in a competition called the Grand Prix of Desire. They must fight against enemies and compete with others. Only those who win the game in the end can realize their wishes. Is this some kind of Holy Grail War?"

"Ai actually knows about the Holy Grail War?"

"Because Ryo just performed in a 2.5-dimensional stage play of FGO last time, I went to learn about it while I was there."

Hoshino Ai paused and brought the topic back to the audition.

"Although I auditioned for both roles, I still hope to play Tsumurai—"

Hoshino Ai pounced on the sofa, her ivory-white legs hooked upwards, and she twisted the strawberry bunny placed aside between her feet flexibly. This was something she had specially asked Kitagawa Ryo for after moving.

Although the orange bear is Kitagawa Rumi's favorite, she hardly touches the other two dolls, so Kitagawa Ryo just gave them away.

"Would Ai prefer to play Tsumurai?"

Kitagawa Ryoya was a little surprised. After all, judging from the information released in the first few episodes, the role of Kurama Yaon is more important than that of Izumi, and she also has more scenes competing against the male protagonist Ukiyo Hidetoshi, who is a Kamen Rider.

"Because I feel like I'm having trouble acting?"

“I remember the wish this character made when he participated in the Desire Grand Prix was [to get true love].”

At this point, Hoshino Ai also turned over, lying flat on the sofa, and moved the phone from her ear to her mouth:

"I'm not like her."

"Because—I already got it."

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

Kitagawa Rumi sank her body completely into the bathtub. The newly bought house by the Kitagawa family was much larger than the one the brother and sister lived in before, including the bathroom.

The total area is even more than twice that of the previous bathroom, and all the facilities purchased during the decoration are of the best quality. The huge bathtub is more than enough for two adults to sit in, and it is automatically filled with hot water that is automatically adjusted to the most comfortable temperature before entering.

Kitagawa Rumi reached out and took a yellow rubber duck from the shelf next to her and placed it in the water. Next to it were a variety of bath gels, shampoos and shower gels.

The matching lighting equipment rendered a soft warm yellow light in the entire space. Kitagawa Rumi buried her body completely in the hot water, relaxing every part of her body. She looked up at the misty ceiling.

The faint voice of Kitagawa Ryo could be heard outside. Kitagawa Rumi, who was lying in the bathtub, even suddenly began to enjoy this atmosphere. She was in the bathroom, and Kitagawa Ryo was the only one in the living room outside the door. After she finished her bath and came out, she could lean against him naturally and act coquettishly, asking him to wipe and blow-dry her hair.

Perhaps it was because she thought of more embarrassing scenes, or perhaps it was because the temperature in the bathroom was a little too high, Kitagawa Rumi only felt her face starting to get hot.

She sank the lower half of her face into the water with a gurgling sound, bringing up a string of bubbles.

Chapter 4: Call Sister (5k)

Unlike the large-scale first round of auditions, there were fewer actors who came to the second round of auditions for "Kamen Rider Radix", and the audition location was moved from the rented large venue to Toei headquarters in Ginza.

When Kitagawa Ryo arrived at the scene, many actors who had passed the first round of auditions had already gathered there. Some of them were deliberately but casually throwing out their past resumes like naming a dish, as if they hoped to put some psychological pressure on their competitors before the audition, and build up their own self-confidence at the same time.

However, after Beichuan Liang walked into the hall leisurely, the actors who were reading out the dishes quickly put away their hands and shut their mouths. After all, in front of this person's resume, even if they were piled together, it would probably not be even one-tenth of his.

Kitagawa Ryo didn't care about all this. He casually glanced around and saw familiar faces in the crowd, including Kazuto Mokushiro, Ruma Sato and Ai Hoshino, whom he had seen in the first round of auditions.

However, because this round of auditions was basically equivalent to finalizing the role, it could be said that many of the people present were standing at the dividing line of their lives, so they just greeted each other and did not have the energy to chat more.

After all, if they are successful in the audition, they will have to stay in the same crew for about half a year and work together as colleagues for quite a long time.

In order to save time, the auditions of the leading actors and other actors were conducted together. Kitagawa Ryo and Hoshino Ai's names were called first, which was actually a good sign, as it implicitly suggested that the two had left the deepest impression on the production team during the first round of auditions.

So the two of them stood up from their seats together, looked at each other, mouthed "come on" to each other, and then went into their respective rooms.

The furnishings in the room were very simple, with a long table in the middle and chairs on both sides. However, no one was there yet, so Beichuan Ryo pulled a chair and sat down upright to wait. This scene reminded him of the job interview at the company.

Come to think of it, it seems like he hasn't participated in this kind of formal individual audition for a long time since he became famous as an actor. When working with familiar directors like Yasushi Gotanda, he could even occasionally guest-star as an interviewer.

Although he kept his eyes straight and maintained an upright posture after sitting on the chair, Kitagawa Ryo had already quickly scanned the surrounding environment when he first entered the room. There was a large one-way mirror on the wall on the left side of the room. If nothing unexpected happened, whether now or after the formal audition began, there should be someone on the other side of the mirror observing his every move.

Kitagawa Ryo didn't have to wait too long. About two minutes later, screenwriter Takahashi Yu pushed open the door and walked in.

In addition to being a screenwriter, he is also the general manager of the UNIBIRD Theater Company. In Tokyo, the LALALAI Theater Company has always been the leader in the industry because of Kitagawa Ryo. Naturally, the two sides have had some intersections in the past and have held several joint performances and collaborations.

However, this is an interview where other people are watching. Although Takahashi Yuya is very satisfied with Kitagawa Ryo, he still maintains a serious expression on his face.

"Hello, Takahashi-san, I'm Kitagawa Ryo from Burning Production."

After a simple greeting and self-introduction, the actor should then start describing his or her resume.

However, the resume that Kitagawa Ryo has accumulated over the past ten years is indeed a bit too rich. Although he is not yet an adult, he can be regarded as a veteran in the circle, so Takahashi Yuya took the initiative to help Kitagawa Ryo skip this step.

"Kitagawa-kun has participated in our Kamen Rider series in the past."

Takahashi Yuya took the lead in bringing up the topic, resting his chin on his hand.

"Yes, but that was six years ago. I played the role of the main rider's childhood."

Takahashi Yuya nodded upon hearing this and said with a smile:

"Although I was not in the crew of Kamen Rider at the time, I saw Kitagawa-kun's wonderful performance on TV, which was really impressive."

On the other side of the one-way mirror, most of the other members of the production team also gathered here. After all, the main rider's transformer basically represents half of the tone of this Kamen Rider, and everyone takes it very seriously.