Tokyo: My Best Actor Gear List

Chapter 23 The So-Called "Friends"

Nine o'clock in the morning.

A white Toyota Crown slowly drove into downtown Tokyo.

The morning rush hour traffic resembles a giant steel python, coiling around the capital's elevated highways.

Outside the car window, there was a cacophony of horn blares and the roar of construction sites. The deathly stillness and emptiness I felt at the seaside just hours before seemed like a distant dream.

"Just stop at the intersection ahead."

Sitting in the passenger seat, Akina Nakamori put on sunglasses and a mask, re-arming herself as the impeccable national diva. "If we drive to the apartment building, we'll be photographed by reporters lying in wait."

Kitahara Shin did as he was told and pulled over.

Akina unbuckled her seatbelt, placed her hand on the doorknob, but paused for a moment.

She turned her head and looked at Kitahara Shin through her sunglasses.

"I'll wash that trench coat and return it to you."

"No rush." ​​Kitahara Shin rested his hands on the steering wheel, his expression calm. "If you encounter someone you don't want to see or a gathering you don't want to attend, just put this on. Even if it's just for psychological reasons, it can still block out some of the wind."

Akina's lips curled up slightly.

"Okay, I'm leaving."

She opened the car door and quickly disappeared into the bustling crowd.

He didn't look back, his steps were hurried, but his back was very straight.

Kitahara Shin watched her retreating figure, then took a mint from his pocket and popped it into his mouth.

The figure that seemed about to fall on the beach has disappeared.

But a warrior, prepared to continue fighting in the mire, awakened.

……

three days later.

Daejeon Office.

The agent, Ota, held a fax paper, his hands trembling as if he were playing a guitar.

"Kitahara! Kitahara, come quick! What the hell is this?!"

Ota was so excited his face turned bright red, and the cigarette in his mouth almost fell out. "An audition invitation for director Kinji Fukasaku's new film?! And it was sent directly to you, a special audition invitation?!"

Fukasaku Kinji.

The godfather of Japanese violent aesthetics films, and the legendary director who made "Battles Without Honor and Humanity".

Getting a role in his production, even just as a thug who gets beaten to death, would gild your resume.

Kitahara Shin took the fax and glanced at it.

The character is a ruthless second-in-command of a gang, and has a significant role in the story.

"Ota-san, don't get excited, it's just an audition." Kitahara Shin said calmly.

"This is the Fukasaku Group! Our small agency usually can't even get a chance to submit a resume!" Ota was still excitedly spinning around. "What kind of incredible luck did you have? Did your seppuku scene in the Taiga drama move the director of Fukasaku?"

Kitahara Shin offered no explanation.

But he knew very well who had thrown this windfall at him.

……

At the same time, in the van of Ken-On Agency (the agency to which Akina Nakamori belongs).

"Akina, weren't you a bit too impulsive about passing the message to Director Fukasaku?"

The manager looked at Akina, who was resting with her eyes closed, and said with a hint of reproach, "That Kitahara Shin is just a newcomer actor. Is it worth using your connections to promote him? What if gossip magazines write that you two have some kind of relationship..."

"It doesn't matter."

Akina opened her eyes, interrupting her manager.

Her eyes were cold and clear, revealing a determination she had never shown before.

"Then why help him?"

"Because in this circle..."

Akina looked out the window at the fleeting street scene and unconsciously touched the neatly folded men's trench coat in her bag.

"He is the only friend I trust."

Not "lovers", not "playmates", but "friends".

In the entertainment industry, which is full of exchanges of interests, betrayals, and lies, the word "friend" carries more weight than "lover."

Because a lover might betray you for money, but a true friend is someone who is willing to take you to the beach to watch the sunrise when you are at your lowest point.

The agent was stunned.

He had followed Akina for several years and had never seen her show such an expression—both vulnerable and resilient.

……

Kitahara Shin did not become complacent after receiving an audition from the Fukasaku team.

For him, this was simply Akina's way of returning the favor.

What he needs to do is build a real line of defense.

Eight o'clock in the evening, at an old-fashioned izakaya in Shinbashi.

This place is filled with smoke and noise; it's a place for office workers to release stress, and also an information exchange where information flows fastest.

Kitahara Shin sat in a corner booth, opposite an old man with thinning hair and a ruddy complexion.

The old man's name is Sato. He used to be a top paparazzi for gossip magazines, but he retired due to mobility issues. Now he specializes in selling all sorts of insider information within the industry.

Kitahara Shin met him on the set of a Taiga drama; the old man was a relative of a senior production assistant there.

"Brother Kitahara, are you going to investigate that kid Kanai's background?"

Sato Shigeaki downed the sake in his glass in one gulp and lowered his voice, "That's Johnny's darling, investigating him is risky."

"I'm not trying to expose anything; I just want to know what kind of mess his racing team is."

Kitahara Shin poured the old man a full glass of wine, then casually pulled an envelope from his pocket and gently pushed it over.

The envelope wasn't thick, but it was still a considerable expense for him, who had just received his paycheck.

Sato squeezed the thickness of the envelope, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"Hey, since you're so straightforward, I'll give you a heads-up."

Sato leaned closer, his breath reeking of alcohol. "That kid's racing team is just a front. What he's really into is the underground stuff... He's lost a lot of money at those underground casinos in Roppongi lately, and I heard he even misappropriated the money his agency had set aside for him to buy a house."

"Embezzlement?" Kitahara Shin's eyes narrowed.

"Not only that." Sato sneered. "I also heard that he's in a hurry to find someone else to fill the hole, and a high-ranking person in his firm is helping him cover it up because of some dirt on him. Their current strategy is to find a rich and stupid woman to transfer this mess to her."

Kitahara Shin's fingers tapped lightly on the table.

really.

This was just as he had guessed.

This is not a love dispute at all; it's an elaborate financial scam.

Akina was the chosen scapegoat.

"Who is that high-ranking official? Is there any concrete evidence of financial transactions?" Kitahara Shin asked.

"That'll cost more money and take more time." Sato picked up a mouthful of edamame with his chopsticks. "However, I have a few old friends who work as bouncers at casinos... As long as the money is there, making copies of a few IOUs won't be difficult."

"I will prepare the money."

Kitahara Shin's eyes were as cold as ice. "The sooner the better. Especially before July, I need solid evidence."

1989 7 Month 11 Day.

That was the day the famous "Golden Screen Incident" took place.

On that day, Kanai used a gold screen to announce the marriage to lure Akina to the press conference, and then forced her to apologize in public, admitting that her suicide attempt was her own willfulness and had nothing to do with Kanai.

That was the day that completely ruined Akina Nakamori.

It's June now.

Three months left.

"Alright, I like dealing with straightforward people like you." Sato put away the envelope. "Just you wait."

……

I returned to my apartment late at night.

Kitahara Shin did not turn on the lights.

He sat in the dark living room, fiddling with the silver Zippo in his hand.

"Click".

The flames flickered.

After that night at the beach, and after establishing this mutually supportive relationship, he could feel that his connection with the equipment had become closer than ever before.

hum-

A long-awaited system notification popped up on my retina.

[Equipment: Silver Zippo lighter discarded by the songstress (purple, rare)]

Current compatibility: 40%

[Unlock new term: Temperature of Embers]

[Affix Effect: When playing a "Guardian" or "Endurance" role, your Charm stat increases by 20%. Additionally, this item seems to be resonating with the fate of a specific character, and may play an unexpected role at a crucial moment in the future.]

"Resonance...?"

Kitahara Shin looked at the cluster of flames, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

He closed the lid and gripped the Zippo tightly in his hand.

He stood up and spread Kinji Fukasaku's script out on the table.

If you want to protect others, you must first become stronger yourself.