Yuzuki ran cheerfully back to her own home, leaving Uesugi Yuichi standing there, dumbfounded, with Hikari-chan in his arms as he mulled over what she had said.
Part B.
Yuzuki returned to Uesugi Yuichi's art class.
After class, she stayed behind to work on her painting for the competition.
Uesugi Yuichi finally understood what Yuzuki's expression had meant when they parted the other day.
Yuzuki had chosen to paint an oil portrait.
And her model was...
Uesugi Yuichi.
Her reason was that Mr. Uesugi was handsome enough.
That was an entirely objective fact, and Uesugi Yuichi couldn't argue with it.
Besides, he'd thumped his chest and offered to help the day before, so he couldn't refuse Yuzuki's request now.
And so, the relationship between Uesugi Yuichi and Yuzuki Sasaki took a new step forward.
Whenever art class ended, the two of them would be alone together, painting one-on-one.
Yuzuki painted with great concentration.
Just then, the ending theme played in sync.
Uesugi Yuichi sat upright in front of Yuzuki.
The modest-sized studio was filled with the distinctive smell of art supplies.
The slightly cluttered room held only the two of them.
Sunlight streamed in through the windows. Dust motes danced in the beams, sparkling like tiny fairies.
With a warm smile and her unspoken love in her heart, Yuzuki poured all her feelings into the portrait.
At the same time, Yuzuki's heartfelt confession played:
"Mr. Uesugi, I know that even if I told you I liked you, you wouldn't accept my feelings."
"So I won't confess to you now."
"But I'll put all these feelings into my painting."
"Will he notice?"
"I hope he does."
"Mr. Uesugi..."
"I... love you."
"I love you more than anything."
It was as if time had stopped at that moment...
Also, I just noticed something interesting. The website posted a message that said: "During contract negotiations, please try to keep your updates steady."
The key word is "try."
In other words...
I... have official permission to slack off?
I get it now.
No wonder this place is known as a nest of pigeons.
I like it.
Well, when in Rome...
Maybe tomorrow...?
Part 50: 44 — Stunned
Shuya knew that the episodes of Alien Baby Hikari-chan after this one wouldn't stir up as much buzz as episode eleven.
Not because the story got worse, but because it lacked a major hook.
The next few episodes mainly focused on Yuzuki Sasaki working hard on her art and getting closer to Uesugi Yuichi.
Then Yuzuki finally won first place in the national competition.
After earning her parents' approval, she began preparing for university entrance exams.
The story returned to a warm, everyday style. It was still funny and enjoyable, but Shuya was sure it wouldn't reach the same heights as before.
He turned his attention to other things.
Like the weekly Oricon Chart.
Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Japanese pop culture had probably heard of the Oricon Chart. Simply put, it was the most authoritative sales ranking.
The Oricon Chart tallied sales for the week, with the count closing on Sunday and the results announced on Tuesday.
That meant the rankings would come out the day after Alien Baby Hikari-chan aired.
Shuya, Inoue Hikoo, and the others were all looking forward to the results. They'd arrived at the office early to wait for them.
Hanazawa Sakura was pacing back and forth, a little nervous too.
There hadn't been any big hit singles released the previous week, so she had a good chance of taking first place.
But until that prediction became reality, she couldn't help feeling nervous.
In those days, voice actors rarely made it to the top of the Oricon Chart.
Even when an anime song made the rankings, it wasn't a voice actor singing it, but a hugely popular singer.
Voice actors who made the chart were few and far between, let alone ones who claimed the top spot.
As far as Shuya knew, only one voice actor had ever reached number one on the Oricon Chart.
A famous voice actress named Yusho Sakura.
Shuya didn't know her, but he'd heard she was still young, only in her twenties.
"Here it is! Here it is!"
A staff member soon hurried over and handed the results to Inoue Hikoo.
He took one look and laughed. "I told you we had it in the bag! Straight to number one!"
"Yeah!"
"That's great!"
Everyone at the office cheered.
Once the news was confirmed, Hanazawa Sakura seemed even more stunned. She could only mechanically bow again and again to the people around her, thanking them.
Shuya clapped too, celebrating his mother's success.
At this rate, Alien Baby Hikari-chan might really make it into the Million Club.
But whether it did or not, today was a day worth celebrating.
Amid the cheers, Inoue Hikoo grinned wider and wider. "I'm treating everyone again tonight! Let's celebrate properly!"
The office erupted in excitement.
Everyone spent the whole day basking in the joy.
Shuya was no exception. After a day of celebrating, everyone was still riding high the next day, though they were more focused on keeping the momentum going.
They threw themselves back into their busy work.
Shuya, meanwhile, continued to enjoy his leisurely little life.
The next day was Wednesday.
He didn't have class that morning, and Hanazawa Sakura was busy with promotion, so she had no time to train him or take him to audition for bit parts.
He spent the whole morning at home playing with the Quintuplets. When it was about time, he went to the gym on his own to work out with Mai.
It was already the last week of June, and the weather had suddenly turned summery. Shuya felt rather uncomfortable walking around in it.
He hadn't cut his hair in a long time, and it now fell past his shoulders.
The heat was getting to him.
"Shuya?"
He got out of the car and was almost at the gym when he ran into Mai.
"What a coincidence."
Shuya greeted her.
"Good afternoon."
Seeing Shuya, Mai suddenly sighed. "Shuya, Shuya."
"What is it, Mai, Mai?"
"Your hair's getting longer, and you're getting cuter. You look like a girl."
Shuya didn't bat an eye. "Oh."
He wasn't upset. He'd get his hair cut sooner or later, and then he wouldn't look like one... probably?
"Let's go in."
"Mm."
Shuya shrugged and motioned for Mai to come into the gym with him. They greeted the receptionist, changed into their workout clothes as usual, and exercised while chatting.
After their workout, Shuya kept his promise and played a few guitar pieces for Mai. It counted as practice, too.
But today, he'd only played two songs when a phone call interrupted him.
"Hm? Sorry."
Shuya stopped playing and looked at his phone, puzzled. "Uncle Aoki?"
"Uncle Aoki? What would he want with you?"
Mai was curious too.
Come to think of it, Shuya and Mai had only seen Aoki Shin last month.
It had been at the press conference for the Morning Drama, where Aoki Shin had attended with the main staff and cast.
Shuya wasn't a lead. He was only a major supporting character in the early episodes, and he had fewer scenes than Mai.
He'd mainly gone to the press conference to make up the numbers.
The reporters clearly weren't very interested in the child actors. Even though Shuya was fairly well known, he didn't get much attention.
They focused instead on the new female lead.
The reporters asked Shuya and Mai only two or three questions before ignoring them.
It had been little more than a formality—a chance to show their faces and become familiar to the public.
Shuya was puzzled by Aoki Shin's call, too.
He almost never called. The last time he had was because Alien Baby Hikari-chan had moved him.
But Shuya answered anyway.
"Hey, Shu-chan."
"Hi, Uncle Aoki. What's up?"
"There's something I'd like to discuss with you. We've finally settled on the actor for Dahua Special Forces. He'll come by in a couple of days to sign the contract and get familiar with the place. Want to come take a look? You have quite a few scenes with him, after all."
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