I didn’t notice when watching anime before.
Are 2D heroines’ voices really this loud?
It honestly sounds like a human megaphone.
“What do you mean ‘why’?”
Yuji lowered his fingers from his ears.
“I mean, why?
Why are you suddenly quitting being a child actor?”
Kana shook Yuji mercilessly.
Surely it’s because his role was stolen and he feels resentful, right?
Or maybe, like her, his family has been forcing him?
In short, it must be a very deep, important reason, right?
After all, Yuji’s Acting is so perfect, and he put in so much effort.
There’s no way he’d just quit on a whim, right?
Kana’s eyes were full of concern!
She had even imagined a dramatic backstory of over ten thousand words filled with love, hatred, and grievances in her head.
And then…
And then, Kana heard Yuji’s matter-of-fact reply.
“Because I’m out of money.”
“Huh?”
Wait…?
Out of money?
Just for a reason as superficial as it gets?
He’s quitting being a child actor?
Kana’s mouth twitched.
At this moment, she felt like her ten-thousand-word imaginary drama had just been thrown to the dogs.
But this was the truth.
Unlike a star child actor who was the agency’s poster child like Kana, an “unsellable” child actor like Yuji had to pay to stay with the agency.
In reality, he had to pay the agency a “training fee” of about 180,000 yen per month to hire Acting, dancing, and singing instructors, as well as to use the facilities…
like the shuttle service.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Yuji was only a semi-freelancer who was registered under the “Northern Child Actor Agency” name.
Yuji was an adult.
Therefore, he had consciously saved money ever since his time at the orphanage.
But no matter how much a child saved their pocket money, how much could it possibly be?
He had paid two months’ worth in one go.
Calculating the time, he would have to pay the “training fee” again in about half a month…
Which meant—
“I’m out of money,” Yuji said very seriously.
“But—” Kana wanted to say something more, clearly unwilling to back down over such a “realistic” reason.
“What are you worried about?
I’m just leaving the industry, not leaving the world.”
Yuji found her reaction rather strange instead.
He actually couldn’t quite understand the mindset of some Japanese anime heroines.
They made a simple move, school transfer, or graduation feel like a tragic, permanent parting—even though the protagonist in the anime had only moved, not died.
To put it bluntly.
Japan was just a tiny place.
For Yuji, who had enjoyed the vast territory and abundant resources of China in his past life, traveling within Japan was like moving from Hunan Province to Hubei Province.
With such a short distance, if they really wanted to meet, they could find time to do so whenever they wanted, right?
“That…
that might be true.
But, but if you’re not a child actor anymore…
you…
in the future—”
Kana’s fingers twisted together restlessly.
Finally, she took a deep breath, a look of determination appearing in her eyes, and then spoke.
“Won’t our chances of meeting in the future be drastically reduced?
Are you really okay with that?”
As she said this, she tilted her head up slightly.
The summer sunlight filtered down.
Her wine-red eyes looked incredibly magnificent.
Bathed in the sunlight, her baby-fat face looked absolutely adorable at this moment.
No matter how hard-hearted someone was, seeing this scene, their heart would probably soften with reluctance to part, right?
However—
“Eh?
It’s fine,” Yuji said.
“So why on earth is that?!”
Kana really couldn’t maintain her expression anymore.
Wait…?
Replying instantly is one thing.
But you didn’t even hesitate?
You guy, do you even have a human heart?!
Seriously, how can that mouth of yours say such cold words?
She wanted to question him sharply.
But to her surprise, Yuji looked back at her with a strange expression.
“Why are you so worked up?”
“That’s obviously because—”
Before Kana could finish, Yuji cut her off.
“Even if I continued to work as a child actor, our meetings wouldn’t increase by much, would they?”
“Eh?”
“You’re the star child actor of your agency, so your schedule must be incredibly tight, right?”
“Uh—”
“And as the star, you must have plenty of CM (commercial) promotional activities to do, right?”
“Ugh…”
“In the end, a big star like you and an external child actor like me would barely have any opportunities to work together, would we?
Hmm…?
What’s with that look on your face?”
As Yuji spoke, he noticed Kana’s face go from highly emotional to calm, and now, her mouth was twitching as she stared at him in complete speechlessness.
“I just suddenly realized something…
You’re just way too realistic in every sense of the word, aren’t you?”
Adjusting the hat on her head, Kana let out a speechless sigh.
Indeed, children’s emotions were mostly driven by feelings.
But from his declaration of quitting Acting to his current analysis…
Yuji was so rational that he didn’t seem like someone of her age group at all.
Instead, it made her feel like a fool, always jumping to conclusions.
“But it was very effective, right?
Your mood should have calmed down by now, shouldn’t it?”
“Huh?”
Astonishment appeared on her cute face as Kana raised her head.
Only then did she discover that Yuji was stretching, narrowing his eyes, and looking at her with a smile.
To be honest, before she chased after him to see Yuji just now, her mood was indeed quite terrible.
She had been thinking.
Why couldn’t a child actor like Yuji, who had helped her and constantly polished his Acting, get the results he deserved instead?
Wasn’t this simply too unfair?
Therefore, she was truly unwilling to accept it, especially unwilling!
It was as if a ball of fire was burning fiercely in her chest, making her anxious and upset.
Yet now…
Her palm gently stroked her chest.
All those anxious emotions had dissipated like a lie in that series of conversations with Yuji just now.
Could it be that he had figured out how to comfort her right from the start?
This was simply too…
She opened her mouth and looked at Yuji in front of her: “You…”
“Alright, alright, it’s about time, and we can’t keep the driver waiting too long.”
Yuji smiled, turned around, and interrupted her: “Let’s meet again if there’s a chance in the future.”
The mindset of an 8-year-old child was easily influenced by the emotions of others.
And in the original work, Kana was inherently a person with delicate emotions, easily affected by others.
As a mentally mature adult, Yuji did not want his own affairs to turn around and affect her emotions.
After all, she was different from an adult like himself.
Kana still had a very long path ahead of her.
Taking steps forward, Yuji walked towards the vehicle of the Northern Child Actor Agency without hesitation.
But right at this moment.
A voice suddenly sounded from behind.
It was the voice of Kana.
“Yuji!”
His footsteps stopped.
“No matter what others say—”
Inhale—
And then exhale!
“Your Acting!
Really, truly great!
I like it a lot!
I will keep working hard!
Along with your share!!!”
“…” Yuji.
Raising his footsteps once more, he smiled and shook his head.
It seemed he had meddled in something that wasn’t his business.
Kana, the anime heroine, seemed far stronger than he had imagined.
Under the gaze of Kana.
Yuji did not look back.
He simply raised his hand.
His fair palm waved gently.
It was like a farewell, yet also like a goodbye.
…
Six in the afternoon, Northern Child Actor Agency.
“Then, I need to consider what to do next.”
Walking out from the entrance of the Northern Child Actor Agency, Yuji, who was waiting for a ride, stroked his chin and pondered his future path.
However…
“No matter where you are in the world, it’s still too hard for children to make money.”
Yuji stretched his limbs.
Indeed.
Looking across the entire world, there were actually only a few professions suitable for children to make money and that were legal.
But fortunately…
because he had long anticipated this situation.
Therefore, a mature adult like him already had a contingency plan here.
A qualified adult would never stake all their exits on a single path.
Since the child actor path for making money wouldn’t work out, he would just find ways to take other roads.
For example—
“Working part-time as that guy’s tutor would be pretty good…”
He muttered a sentence, just preparing to make up his mind.
A breathless female voice suddenly came from ahead.
“Excuse me, can we chat for a bit?
Little Yuji?”
“Hmm?”
Yuji subconsciously raised his head.
What came into view was a woman’s pretty face and her flaxen hair.
Perhaps noticing Yuji’s gaze.
The woman with flaxen long hair took a deep breath and forced a smile: “Ah…
don’t be afraid, I actually do this for a living.”
As she spoke, she fished a business card out of her pocket and handed it over.
Yuji took the business card and glanced over it briefly.
It was written in bold black font—
[Strawberry Pro Agency]
[Saitou Miyako]
Hmm?
Yuji blinked.
If this mature adult remembered correctly…
Isn’t this the agency where that blonde scumbag with the Hoshino surname from oshi no ko works?