Chapter 82 – Pressing the Daughter Down Right in Front of Her Mother (Patreon)

"We've arrived at the film studio lot."

Mrs. Sakurajima drove straight in without any hindrance.

"Yoko Okino's set should be... that one."

Kouma looked in the direction Mrs. Sakurajima was pointing and spotted a long banner serving as a cordon. Printed across it in large characters were the words: Yakuza Heiress.

Past the banner, extras in all kinds of costumes could be seen, along with production assistants bustling back and forth nonstop, and the occasional roar of a director could be faintly heard.

"It looks so chaotic."

Ai wrinkled her pert, delicate nose. The scene on set was quite different from what she had imagined.

"That's just how film sets are—messy and disordered. Film and television are actually pretty much the same as being an idol. All that beauty on screen is just packaging."

Mrs. Sakurajima said coolly. Having been in this industry for over ten years, she was intimately familiar with every nook and cranny of show business.

"Let's head in."

With those words, the four of them got out of the car and walked toward the set. Two mature women, one beautiful young girl, and one little boy—four people whose looks alone could have served as the leads in any production—instantly drew a small wave of attention.

"Hello, I'm here to visit Ms. Okino on set..."

After a bit of face-to-face recognition, Mrs. Sakurajima smoothly passed through the cordon.

...

Yoko Okino, who had just finished a martial arts scene and was resting off to the side, immediately noticed Mrs. Sakurajima's group. She promptly stood up and walked over, waving.

"Mrs. Sakurajima! It's been so long!"

"Yoko-san, you're becoming even more beautiful."

After the two women exchanged pleasantries, Yoko's gaze naturally fell upon Miyako Saito and Ai standing beside Mrs. Sakurajima. A deep sense of admiration flashed through her beautiful eyes.

She had heard from Mrs. Sakurajima beforehand that she'd be bringing a rookie idol along and had been rather curious what kind of newcomer could possibly catch Mrs. Sakurajima's eye. After all, the last artist Mrs. Sakurajima had managed was a child-star-turned-household-name... um... who was it again?

Yoko furrowed her brows slightly, thinking hard for a moment, but simply couldn't recall the name. She gave up on it.

"You must be Ms. Saito and Hoshino-san, the ones Mrs. Sakurajima mentioned... As expected of a rising star idol—so adorable!"

Yoko praised sincerely.

"Okino-senpai, you've always been an inspiration to me. I really loved your songs back then!"

Ai unfurled a breathtakingly radiant professional smile. With those words, she softly hummed a few lines from one of Yoko's songs from when she had debuted as an idol singer. Yoko, who had initially assumed Ai was merely being polite, showed a look of genuine, surprised delight in her eyes.

"So nostalgic... Now that I think about it, it's already been quite a few years."

Yoko's face was filled with emotion. She gazed at Ai, seeing in her the youthful, vibrant version of her past self.

"Keep working hard. You'll definitely make it."

"Thank you, Okino-senpai!"

Yoko lowered her gaze slightly and found herself looking straight into the pure, innocent eyes of an unbelievably beautiful little face. Even someone like Yoko, who had seen countless handsome men and beautiful women in the entertainment industry, couldn't help her heart from quivering slightly. The visual impact this little boy's looks and presence gave her was, if anything, even stronger than what she'd felt from Ai.

"And who's this adorable little boy?"

She bent her knees and crouched down directly, her admiring gaze fixed on the little boy's face. She couldn't resist reaching out her fair fingers and gently pinching his cheeks.

"I'm Kouma, Ai-nee's little brother!"

Kouma answered. His bright, crisp voice, landing in the ears, made one's mood lighten by a few shades.

"A little brother..."

Yoko looked up again at Ai beside her and couldn't help but marvel inwardly. The combined visual firepower of these two siblings was simply off the charts.

"Let me show you all around the set."

Yoko took Kouma's small hand and spoke to the women. Both Miyako Saito and Ai glanced briefly at Kouma's hand in unison before shifting their gazes away and nodding toward Yoko.

"Sorry to trouble you, Yoko-san."

And so, Yoko led the group on a tour through the set, filling them in on some of the plot along the way. The general background was that a yakuza boss had two daughters.

Amidst a violent power struggle and shootout, a moment's negligence led to the younger daughter being abducted and trafficked by a rival, leaving only the elder daughter to inherit the family business.

The female lead was this elder daughter. Yoko played the younger daughter. The elder daughter inherited the family, becoming the yakuza heiress, while the younger daughter ended up in an impoverished household and, through sheer effort, tested into the police force...

It was the kind of drama where the relationships between the characters alone made it obvious just how melodramatically soapy it was.

...

Mai Sakurajima, who had followed Mrs. Sakurajima's vehicle the whole way by taxi, looked at the familiar film studio ahead with a somewhat dazed expression.

Ever since debuting as a child star, the vast majority of her after-school time through elementary and middle school had been spent right here in this very film studio. It could be said that she had practically grown up on these lots.

"How does Mom know Kouma-kun... and why would she bring him here?"

Mai fell silent. Then she saw the van—the one bought specifically for her—come to a stop. Her mother's figure stepped out. Alongside her were two other women and the very little boy she'd been searching for.

"They're going in."

Seeing her mother lead them into the studio, Mai unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Driver, how much is the fare?"

She pulled out her wallet and asked the man in the driver's seat. Yet it was as though he hadn't heard a single word she said, as though he couldn't perceive her existence at all. He even turned his head to look back, scratching his head in bafflement.

"Why'd I drive all the way out here without a fare...?"

Hearing the driver mutter to himself, Mai's heart instantly went cold. Just moments ago at the school, he'd still been able to communicate with her—and now, he couldn't see her at all.

What sent the deepest chill down Mai's spine was this: when the driver had turned back just now and her eyes had met his, she had faintly noticed that his eyes held no reflection of her whatsoever.

"It's getting worse..."

She bit down hard on her lower lip, losing herself for a moment. Then she realized the driver seemed to be about to start the engine and leave. She placed a 5000-yen bill directly on the seat and swiftly opened the door to get out.

"Find Kouma-kun first..."

Everyone at the film studio lot was an industry insider and would certainly recognize her as the child star. So, with practiced ease, Mai pulled on a baseball cap. However, she quickly discovered this was entirely unnecessary. The people here—forget recognizing her—they couldn't even see her.

"Well... at least I don't have to worry about how to sneak past security..."

Mai let out a bitter smile. Still, to avoid being discovered by her mother, she disguised herself. She borrowed a bystander's costume from the props department and put it on. Then, stealthily... no—openly—blended right into the crowd of extras.

...

At that moment, Yoko Okino was leading the little boy and showing Ai's group around the set when the director found them. Yoko assumed her next scene was about to start filming, but the director looked straight past her to the little boy at her side.

"What a gorgeous little boy! Yoko-san, don't you have that scene coming up where you save a child? Would it be possible for this little boy to make a cameo?"

The director turned to ask Yoko. Yoko paused in surprise, then looked toward Miyako Saito and Ai.

The two women were equally taken aback. Who would have thought that the first one to actually end up on camera would be Kouma, who had purely come along to have fun?

"Yoko-san, this might not be convenient. Kouma-kun has no acting training."

Miyako spoke with a hint of hesitation.

Yoko glanced at her and said gently, "It's only a few seconds of screen time. No acting required whatsoever..."

With that, her gaze settled on Kouma. "Kouma-kun, would you like to give it a try?"

"I'm fine with it."

Kouma answered with his clear, youthful voice.

He had no interest in debuting as a child star, but experiencing a film shoot as a cameo guest did pique his curiosity somewhat.

Seeing this, the director was overjoyed. Though it was just an insignificant shot, stumbling upon such a stunning little boy today and not having him cameo would have been a real shame.

"Only a few seconds of screen time, but the appearance fee won't be shortchanged!"

The director waved grandly, producing a red envelope stuffed with cash.

Yoko then began her preparations. She shed the heavy coat she'd been wearing to keep warm. Only now did Kouma notice that what she wore underneath was unmistakably an Investigator-Series-style tight leather catsuit, perfectly tracing the tall and voluptuous curves of Yoko's figure.

Next, she would be rigged up on wires, descending from the sky, swiftly taking down several yakuza thugs, and rescuing the little boy being held hostage as a passerby.

The plot was simple and blunt, but being his first time participating in an actual film and television shoot, Kouma was still quite keen on it.

On the set dressed as a street, several yakuza thugs held the little boy hostage, brandishing what looked like wicked blades but were in fact nothing more than silicone prop knives, waving them at the police officers ahead.

"Stay back! One more step and I'll kill this brat!"

The somewhat exaggerated, stilted dialogue sounded beside his ears, and Kouma unexpectedly felt a touch of secondhand embarrassment. He looked toward the street opening ahead. Aside from the background police extras, the crew had also arranged a scattering of bystander extras to watch.

Kouma swept his gaze across them casually, but just as he was about to look away, he suddenly spotted a somewhat familiar figure.

"Huh..."

Kouma blinked, his eyes fixing on the black-haired, straight-haired girl wearing a hat. He stared at her for a long moment.

At that instant, Yoko Okino was already in position on the balcony of the neighboring building, ready to go. With the director's call of action, Yoko immediately leaped from the balcony several meters high.

Her tight leather catsuit traced her alluring figure as it stretched and flowed through the air. She landed smoothly beside the thugs, her long legs sweeping out and powerfully sending the two yakuza flying. Then she landed gracefully before the little boy.

According to the script, she was now supposed to scoop the little boy into her arms, then kick off the wall twice and soar into the air, carrying him away from danger. Yoko spun around and decisively gathered the little boy into her embrace.

But in the next moment—just as she was about to push off the wall—a strange, exquisitely pleasurable tremor surged up from deep within her body and heart. In an instant, all the strength drained from Yoko's body. A soft, involuntary sound escaped her lips, audible only to Kouma.

Before the horrified eyes of everyone else, her entire body went limp, suspended powerlessly by the wires. Her numb, tingling arms couldn't hold onto the little boy at all.

With Miyako's, Ai's, and the others' hearts all seizing in their chests, Kouma plummeted from Yoko's arms, a full two meters above the ground.

"Kouma-kun!"

Ai, Miyako, and Mrs. Sakurajima cried out in alarm and rushed over immediately.

"Kouma-kun... are you alright...?"

A slightly panicked voice rose from beneath him. In the instant he had fallen, a tall, graceful figure had burst out from the crowd of extras. Using her own body as a cushion, she had just barely caught him.

Kouma lifted his head.

Mai was holding him tightly in her arms, her body wrapped protectively around him from every angle.

"Mai-nee... I'm..."

Kouma said softly, a faint glimmer of touched emotion in his eyes.

"You're okay... that's all that matters..."

"Nn!"

The moment the tension in Mai's mind relaxed, that familiar sensation surged up again. Her cherry lips parted uncontrollably as she let out a soft gasp. She reflexively tightened her embrace—but her body only grew more weak and boneless.

And just then, a voice Mai Sakurajima knew better than any other sounded right nearby.

"Kouma-kun, are you alright?!"

Mom?!

Mai's entire body instantly froze on the spot. Her face, flushed crimson just moments before, now drained entirely pale.

It's over. She definitely saw me... in that state just now...

Kouma's expression also froze for a moment. His face turned somewhat... complicated.

Given their current positioning—Mrs. Sakurajima right in front, Mai beneath—doing this right in front of the girl's own mother...

Kouma's eyes met Mrs. Sakurajima's gaze and then he suddenly paused. In Mrs. Sakurajima's beautiful eyes—there was no reflection of Mai Sakurajima at all.

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