Make Your Debut as a Child Star!

Kanto, Gunma Prefecture, Mount Akina.

Mount Akina was naturally that famous Mount Akina, but Seiya had not come here to race today.

There was no AE86, nor was there a tofu shop. After all, this world was not Initial D, but Oshi no Ko.

The path available to genius child star Arima Kana proved to be quite unconventional.

A few days ago, Seiya told Kana that he had made up his mind and wanted to try becoming an entertainer.

Arima Kana then acted cute with her mother and had her speak with the director. In the end, a little over ten days later, she secured Seiya a bit part.

Since Seiya said he did not need to be paid and only wanted to gain some experience, and with genius child star Kana's reputation backing him up, the director reluctantly agreed.

Seiya was only a child now, so even if he took on a role in a production, he needed a guardian to accompany him.

Originally, Yuko was supposed to serve as that guardian. But Yuko had been racing to meet deadlines lately and truly had no time, so she asked Kana's mother to help instead.

"Seiya, I asked the director for you earlier. You do not have many scenes this time.

You just need to hold a bamboo sword, put on a determined expression, and swing it wildly at whatever is in front of you.

You have to act well, okay? Kana worked really hard to beg for this opportunity for you. If you hold Kana back, we will never bring you along to act again."

The crimson-haired loli, dressed in a little white dress and a beret, stood before Seiya with her hands on her hips. She did not forget to impart her acting experience to Seiya with the bearing of a "senior."

"All departments, get ready. We will be filming the next scene shortly.

Kana-chan, and that little kid over there... your name is Seiya-kun, right? It is time for you two to get on set."

At the director's command, the crew quickly began bustling about.

Seiya was soon changed into kendo attire, and a bamboo sword was placed in his hands.

"Hey, didn't I say the prop bamboo sword needed to be a smaller, hollow one?

This kid is only around five years old, right? You are giving him a bamboo sword nearly as long as he is tall. How is he supposed to swing that?"

The movie Seiya and the others were filming this time was a romance titled I'll Protect You From This Moment On.

The basic plot was the cliché story of a female lead dissatisfied with the arranged marriage planned by her family, who ran away from home and encountered her true love.

Kana was playing the female lead as a child. After running away from home and getting lost deep in the mountains, she was attacked by a wild wolf and met a boy who lived in the mountains with his grandfather.

Since she was playing the female lead as a child, Kana had quite a lot of scenes and screen time in this movie.

As for the young kendo practitioner Seiya was playing, he had practically only this one scene in the entire film.

Since it was a low-budget movie, after he fought the wild wolf and fell off a cliff, he had no more scenes.

When his character appeared again, it would be many years later, as a bishonen.

According to the script, Seiya only needed to hold the bamboo sword, manage his expression a little, then charge fearlessly at the wild wolf and swing his sword a few times. That would conclude the scene.

For a newcomer playing a bit part, the acting requirements were not particularly high.

On top of that, Seiya's appearance was quite outstanding, which was why the director had agreed to let him make a cameo in the first place.

"A bamboo sword? For a first appearance, it suits me surprisingly well."

The director was still scolding the props team for their carelessness. He had been considering simply fixing it in post-production and cutting Seiya's sword-swinging movements when he unexpectedly noticed that Seiya had already gripped the solid bamboo sword prepared earlier with both hands.

Moreover, the stance he assumed looked quite convincing, leaving the director stunned.

"Seiya-kun, can you lift that bamboo sword?"

Seeing Seiya's impressive posture with the sword, the director's eyes lit up as he asked.

"No problem. I am not very skilled, but I have taken kendo lessons."

Upon hearing that Seiya had practiced kendo before, the director became even happier and immediately asked, "Then can you swing that bamboo sword?"

"Hah! Hah! Hah—!"

Rather than answer, Seiya gripped the bamboo sword nearly as tall as he was with both hands and began swinging it through the air.

"Wonderful! I only gave you this role because of Arima's favor.

But now that I see this, no one could be more suited to this role than you."

Watching Seiya swing the sword, the director wore an expression of complete satisfaction and generously praised him.

Children of such a young age could not be held to overly demanding acting standards. After all, genius child stars like Arima Kana were rare.

The level of kendo Seiya displayed now perfectly matched the role. As for his other acting abilities, they no longer mattered.

Once all the preparations were complete, the actors naturally took their positions.

Then, aside from Seiya and Kana, the two tiny actors, another performer soon made an entrance.

Since it was a low-budget movie, they could not create overly realistic special effects. With current technology, it was not impossible to use computers to render a lifelike wild wolf, but the budget simply could not cover it.

So, to complete the performance, the staff soon led out a police dog that resembled a wild wolf.

"Kana-chan, you do not need to be too scared. This dog is a well-trained police dog. It has merely been made up to look like a wolf.

In a moment, the staff outside the frame will direct this police dog to pounce at you. Seiya-kun, all you need to do is swing the wooden sword in your hand and drive it back."

Despite the director's assurances, Kana was still frightened when she saw the police dog made up as a wild wolf enter the set.

That was hardly surprising. They were only five or six years old, while the police dog playing the wolf was nearly as tall as them even on all fours.

When such a huge creature, at least from a child's perspective, came lunging at them, being scared was the least of it. A normal child would be doing well not to burst into tears on the spot.

"Seiya-kun, do not be afraid. Just imagine it is a big doggy leaping at you."

Before filming officially began, the director did not forget to remind Seiya once more.

In this scene, Kana played a girl who had run away from home, so it was normal for her to be frightened upon encountering a wild wolf.

But Seiya, who was protecting Kana, could not show a timid expression in the face of the wolf. Yet that was no easy task for a child.

The director had previously considered using cuts to skip over Seiya's expression entirely, giving the wolf close-ups or filming only Seiya's back.

But the kendo Seiya had demonstrated just now made him feel that Seiya had talent. It would be far too regrettable if he did not show his face in the movie.