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“I want to quit…”
The person next to me replied, “So, you said you wouldn’t get new jobs.”
It’s 25:00.[1] When I was in the car on the way home from work, my manager was angry. Shinosaki Rikako-san,[2] a cool beauty with glasses and a suit in the late twenties. However, as it was seven years ago when we met, and she looked the same age back then, so the actual age is unknown. I think it’s probably halfway through the thirties, but I’m scared to ask.
“But, the director who took care of me asked me…”
“Haaah… You know, it will be a problem if you get new jobs without permission. Recently, you worked too much, so I adjusted the workload, it doesn’t make sense if you add new jobs.”
She stopped the car at a red light and grasped the steering wheel. She looked at me with a sideways glance and seemed to be quietly angry. Sitting in the front passenger’s seat, I moved my eyes away from her gaze.
Normally, I’ll talk to Shinosaki-san, who is a dedicated manager, through the office after selecting the job offer that I want. In case of overlapping, sometimes I’ll choose, and sometimes I won’t.
And, sometimes, when there are overlaps, and the role that was rejected by Shinosaki-san was chosen by me, she’d say, while taking pictures, “I like this role, would you like to try, Nana-chan?” Something like that.
The company’s workers will deny entrance to strangers or people who don’t have the right contacts to the office, but sometimes some people slip in. Perhaps it’s the company spirit that can’t say no is imprinted in.
And, when I received the offers from those people, I was glad to incorporate them into the schedule; I filled the outer moat, so nobody could change it later. Shinosaki-san hates changing the schedule after that, and she usually wants to put that work on me. I’m busy with stuff. Come back later. Sorry.
Shinosaki-san said, “And, while saying that you’re going to have a quiet rest on an off-day, you took another lesson… What did you start learning next?”
I replied, “Ummm… Capoeira.”[3]
“…Capoeira? Have you seen any strange movies recently?”
“It’s not a strange movie! I will rebuild the defect at capoeira and fight against the gang at capoeira for the students! It was a graduation capoeira dance! It was cool!”
“It’s just a B-movie, is it not?”
Shinosaki-san was amazed, but, who knows, it could be useful someday. Maybe a role could come from a capoeira master in prison… I thought that, but it’s unlikely that such a role will come to me. Well, maybe, it might be helpful, probably not a useless effort… Probably.
As a part of studying acting, I try to watch as many movies and dramas as possible. In particular, I watched a Japanese movie which is said to be a masterpiece of the past. The performance of the actor who is said to be the star of the former year is too bright. There’s a shine that doesn’t fade even if I see it now.
I’ve seen many famous movies from overseas, but none are as good as B movies. I’m addicted to them. Though they seem dull and uninteresting, there are some interesting things inside.
Shinosaki-san continued, “Anyways, where are you learning capoeira?”
I answered, “My teacher in the dojo. After some discussion, I knew that he was doing capoeira, so I told him to teach me.”
“Aaah, that teacher, so he also did capoeira…”
It seemed that Shinosaki-san once again pressed the gas pedal because the signal turned green. The car started slowly, and went along the neon line. Although it’s midnight, the city center is bright enough that it doesn’t matter if the headlights are turned on or not.
My teacher teaches Shindou-style[4] martial arts. The Shindou-style martial arts looks glamorous, but can’t be used in real fights.
My teacher traveled all around the world a long time ago to improve his skills. I asked him to teach me other martial arts from different schools, but he kept teaching me Shindou-style martial arts while laughing.
When I trained for about half a year, he said, “Do you want to try to learn real martial arts?” I thought it would be good to know some self-defense, so I learned how to break the human body. It was only 4,000 yen a month![5]
Shinosaki-san told me, “Anyways, the next time you do a job without my permission, I’ll have to cancel other things. Your guarantee might be withheld if that happens, so don’t do it.”
“Eeeeh~~!!”
Even without a contract, penalties can occur. That’s the messed-up entertainment world quality for you. It seems that many things are done by verbal agreements. Well, sometimes verbal agreements don’t work like with a certain Chinese web novel company.
“No objections. You’ll break if you don’t rest for a while, and even Natsumi-san[6] is worried that Nana is being overworked. She’s been working with us to reduce the amount of work.”
“Bu-but, now is the time to make money as a child actor…”
“Nana already makes enough money, there’s no other kid that makes as much as you do. I’ve adjusted the schedule, so you don’t have to work tomorrow. Please, stop taking lessons and more lessons and take a good rest.”
“Eeeeh… If tomorrow’s not a work day, then it’s a school day?”
“…That should be so. There’s no choice, so relax after school.”
Tomorrow’s Friday, but I can’t afford to skip because my attendance record is just plain terrible, but I’m tired. …Because it’s compulsory education, I’ve heard that there aren’t any repeaters. I’m okay, right?
Also, Natsumi-san is the last name of my mother. Recently, I often got back late, so I was repeatedly told to work less.
Well, as it seems that I have free time after school tomorrow, it’s okay if I go to some lessons. I think I should do some horseback riding; there’s a good club in the neighborhood, and I haven’t rode a horse in some time. Martial arts and horseback riding are some of the few lessons I keep continuing.
Horses are great. The communication between the cute horse and I and the exhilarating feeling when the horse jumps over obstacles are both amazing.
“After school, I’ll tell Natsumi-san to make you not work,” continued Shinosaki-san
Ah! It seems that Shinosaki-san read my thoughts. It can’t be helped. I wonder if I can watch my stack of movies? I think it’s okay if I just watch a movie, but I’m not going to tell Shinosaki-san as she could stop even that.
When we turned at one traffic tight, we arrived at the mansion[7] where I lived, so I put the key card and hold it over the security gate. The gate opens automatically, and Shinosaki-san drives the car forwards and parks it into the underground garage.
Shinosaki-san always comes to the door of my family’s living space and greets my mother. Then, she returns home. Seriously.
I pushed the button to the 12th floor from the underground garage’s elevator. There isn’t anyone else on the elevator due to the late time. My home is on the top floor on this mansion built in the corner of a high-class residential area.
I used to live in a suburban bedtown,[8] but I moved a year and a half ago. As I became more famous, living in a small house with a small garden was a problem. There was no security, and, when something newsworthy happened related to me, fans and news reporters were packed in front of the house in the mornings. It was impossible to live there.
Originally(previous life) I grew up in the countryside, so I liked that house in the suburbs. The garden was small, but my mother liked gardening, and she carefully took care of the plants. Colorful flowers bloomed in the early spring, and it was beautiful. …Trespassers stepped all over them.
I used to go to a public school, but, as the classes there were constantly interrupted, I transferred to a private elementary school with my friend at the same time that I moved to the mansion with good security.
“Sorry for being late,” said Shinosaki-san to my mother.
When I opened the door with the key card, my mother wasn’t sleeping and was waiting in the living room. Shinosaki-san was lowering her head my mother while she greeted her.
My mother answered back, “No, no, don’t apologize, we still haven’t paid back for your past kindness.”
My mother smiled and welcomed me back, but her eyes weren’t smiling. She was worrying about me until this late, and she was expressing her emotions through her eyes. Scary.
It’s the same smile when my father drank all night and came back the next morning.
“I’ll contact you later, please rest today. With that, goodbye.”
She bowed and left for her home. Shinosaki-san, she ran away. Even though she usually goes back after talking to my mother for a bit…
“…Nanami-chan.”
“Ye-Yes!”
The pressure from my mother went down, and she gently gazed at me. When I tensed up my body, she sighed and stroked my head.
“Today is too late; take a bath and go to bed early.”
She had a really concerned face. If elementary school students work until such a time, you’d normally worry about it. I’m really sorry.
My mother continued from before, “…The talk, tomorrow, okay?”
“…Yes.”
It seems the scolding is on hold until tomorrow.
After my mother’s urging, I went to the bathroom. I undressed, threw my clothes in the wash bin, put my hair up, and I sank my self into the bathtub.
“Ahhh~~~~……”
The voice that I hear in my mind is that of an old man. When I join my age in my new life to my old life, it should be around forty. It’s safe because the voice is an old man.
Hot water breaks my stiffness, and a gentle aroma is released from the dry herb that thinly dyed the bathtub, and it made me relax both mentally and physically. A large bathtub that makes it easy for even adult men to stretch their feet is designed to be lying with a slope. While leaving yourself there and warming in the hot water, it’s very nostalgic.
From the sense of my past life, I don’t feel like I’m that busy. I go home everyday, and I normally have six hours of proper sleep.
In the past, overtime was a matter of course, it was very normal to sleep in a sleeping bag under the company’s desk. Compared to that, this is great. Unlike my previous life of a low salary, if I work hard and well in this life, my income will increase. Because of that, I entered work and lessons willingly and happily.
But, now, I’m still in elementary school, and I need more sleep because my body is still growing. I’m a little tired and a guchi came out.[9]
Also, it’s a bit painful not having time for hobbies. I used to read manga, play games, and watch anime; I was a little bit of an otaku, but I also liked sports too. I had very ordinary hobbies, just like the rest of me.
But, since I started working, I didn’t have time to do anything. I wonder how many years it was since I started working. I was playing online games when I was a student, but, of course, I can’t do that now because I don’t have free time.[10]
But, it’s only a few more years of work.
If I earn enough as a child actor, I’ll become a NEET. After finishing compulsory education,[11] I won’t attend high school. I want to dedicate my second life to online games. Considering the average life expectancy to be 80 years in Japan, if you work hard for 10 years, you can live the other 70 having fun. Isn’t that the best?
I’ve already earned several life incomes of salarymen. I got more taxes , and I shed tears of blood.
I think that, if you can still earn, you should earn more to increase your standard of living in the rest of your life.
So, as long as I can work hard as an elementary schooler, I will. Try your best, me!
When I was creating my grand plan for the future, I seemed to have fallen asleep, and my mother, who came to the bathroom, scolded me. I want to go to bed, but I have to dry my hair and the next morning will be terrible…
As I snoozed off, my mother finished drying my hair and carried me to my bed.
[1] See top comment. [Sera: Credits to the anonymous commenter: “For clarity reasons, times are sometimes rendered like that. So if a store has business hours that run to or past midnight, so say 12:00-24:00, or 12:00-26:00. I’m actually not certain the rules or if it’s even a common practice, but there you go.”]
[2] Shinosaki Rikako 篠崎理香子 (篠 means bamboo grass) (崎 means small peninsula) (理 means reason or logic) (香 means fragrance) (子 means child)
[3] A Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, and music.
[4] 新道; means new road. Not to be confused with Shintou, the religion that most Japanese believe in, and where the name for this site comes from
[5] 4k JPY = ~40 USD = ~480k IDR = ~2k PHP = ~50 CND = ~30 EUR = 1.2k THB = ~120 BRL = ~50 AUD = ~150 MYR
[6] Natsumi (菜摘) (菜 means greens; it’s the same 菜 in our MC’s name) (摘 means pick) According to Google Translate-sama, 菜摘 means rapeseed. [Sera: It’s a plant, y’all. In any case, 菜摘 isn’t used much outside of being a name.]
[7] マンション (manshon); like gyara, this is a borrowed word that came to mean a slightly different thing, for, in Japanese, it just means a luxurious apartment.
[8] ベドタウン (bedotaun); yet another borrowed word(s). It refers to a town where most of its occupants go somewhere else to work; a commuter town.
[9] Yes, it says “guchi” in the raws. I think it’s the author that needs more sleep… (Oh boy…. I actually didn’t know what guchi meant back then… Anyways, it means a complaint)
[10] And, whose fault is that?
[11] Compulsory education ends in junior high/middle school in Japan. Basically, you can skip 10th, 11th, and 12th grades if you want to.