"Anyone you know still around here?" Hayashi Shuichi asked, turning his head. "Your parents didn't arrange for someone to look after you?"
"I'm not a kid anymore. Why would I need anyone to babysit me?"
Fujimine Yukiko tilted her chin with a huff, a spark of defiance in her eyes.
"If we're talking about people I know in Gunma, there's plenty, but the closest is just one friend I grew up with."
"Having a familiar face around means there's always someone to help if you run into trouble," Hayashi Shuichi said, then turned his gaze to the window.
Outside, the sky hung heavy with lead-gray clouds, brooding and low, as if rain could fall at any moment.
"Another gloomy, rainy day," Yukiko muttered, frowning as she shook her head. "I'd rather not show up at the set looking like a drowned rat."
…
Two hours later, Hayashi Shuichi and Fujimine Yukiko stepped out of Takasaki Station.
The air was thick with humidity, the sky still cloaked in ominous clouds. Perhaps answering Yukiko's silent prayer, the rain held off, though the heavens remained foreboding.
"You're the lead actress, and the crew didn't even send someone to pick you up?" Hayashi Shuichi asked, pulling her suitcase along.
"I called them last night, and they offered to send someone," Yukiko said, scanning the crowd with a glint of anticipation in her eyes. "But I turned them down."
"It's still dozens of kilometers from here to the village where the crew's at!" Hayashi Shuichi said, exasperated. "You weren't planning to walk, were you?"
"Come on, Gunma's practically home for me," Yukiko said, patting her chest confidently. "No way I can't handle something this small."
No sooner had she spoken than a voice called her name.
Hayashi Shuichi followed the sound and spotted a brown-haired girl with a beaming smile, waving energetically as she hurried toward them with quick, excited steps.
Behind her trailed an older boy, standing close, his arm resting lightly on her shoulder. Their easy intimacy suggested they were a couple.
Yukiko's face lit up. She shoved her belongings into Hayashi Shuichi's arms and dashed toward the girl.
"Yukiko!"
"Hiromi!"
The two met and threw their arms around each other, their joyful squeals echoing through the station exit, brimming with the delight of reunion.
"Yukiko, it's been over three years since you left for Tokyo," the brown-haired girl said, pouting slightly with a hint of reproach. "If you weren't back to shoot this movie, who knows when we'd have seen each other again."
"I didn't have much choice," Yukiko said, shrugging with a trace of guilt. "I don't have any family left here, and my parents are always so busy. Coming back wasn't exactly easy."
"No family? What about me, your friend?" Yabuuchi Hiromi said, feigning indignation as she stomped her foot. "My house has plenty of rooms. You could've stayed with me! Honestly, you just got swept up in the big city and forgot about us small-town folks. But since it's been so long, I'll let it slide!"
"No way I'd do that!" Yukiko protested, waving her hands. "Gunma's where I grew up, and you're my best friend. How could I not love it here?"
The two girls teased and laughed for a while before Hiromi glanced at Hayashi Shuichi, who was holding the suitcase. A mischievous smile spread across her face.
She nudged Yukiko's waist with her elbow and winked.
"So, this is the boyfriend you mentioned, Hayashi Shuichi? Handsome, just as you said! No wonder you're so smitten you can barely walk straight."
"Nonsense!" Yukiko huffed, her cheeks tinting pink. "He's the one smitten with me." She lowered her voice, a touch shy. "Besides, he's not my boyfriend… yet."
"I know, it's all because of that sneaky, jealous glasses girl," Hiromi said, waving a fist in mock anger. "Next time I'm in Mihua, I'll give her a piece of my mind."
"That glasses girl's a beast in a fight," Yukiko said with a sigh. "Even if we teamed up, we'd probably lose."
"If we can't beat her physically, we'll outsmart her!" Hiromi said, her eyes gleaming with cunning. "It's all about winning the guy, right? By the way, that plan I suggested the other day—wasn't it brilliant?"
"…Yeah," Yukiko nodded firmly. "Thanks to you, that glasses girl got put in her place."
"Exactly!" Hiromi said, lifting her chin proudly and planting her hands on her hips. "We Gunma girls don't lose when it comes to love!"
Hayashi Shuichi couldn't take it anymore and cleared his throat loudly.
Yukiko snapped back to reality, quickly pulling Hayashi Shuichi over and dragging Hiromi closer to make introductions.
The girl was Yabuuchi Hiromi, Yukiko's childhood best friend. The older boy with her was her boyfriend, Fukuda Hidekazu.
Like Hayashi Shuichi, Hiromi had skipped school to come meet Yukiko upon her return to Gunma.
"Hiromi, didn't you say you'd handle getting us to the set?" Yukiko asked, tilting her head. "How are we getting there?"
"Easy," Hiromi said with a grin, pointing to Fukuda Hidekazu and looping her arm through his. "He's driving us."
…
Inside a slightly weathered Toyota, Hayashi Shuichi sat in the passenger seat, occasionally chatting with the driver, Fukuda Hidekazu.
"The roads here are pretty rough, but the scenery's nice," Hayashi Shuichi remarked, gazing out at the landscape.
"Yeah, Gunma's countryside is way prettier than the city," Fukuda replied with a smile.
Outside, the sky grew darker, heavy black clouds pressing down like a vast curtain over the earth.
A fierce wind howled, shaking the roadside trees, their branches swaying wildly with a low, rustling roar.
Scattered raindrops began to patter against the windshield, hinting at a downpour on the horizon.
In the back seat, the two girls sat close, whispering and giggling, their heads occasionally bumping together as they shared secrets, punctuated by bursts of delighted laughter.
Hayashi Shuichi listened with mild exasperation. Had he known Yukiko had friends to look after her, he might not have come at all.
Fukuda's driving was cautious—clearly a new license—and the car crawled along the rural road, flanked by green fields and the occasional low-roofed house.
Hayashi Shuichi's eyelids grew heavy, his head dipping as sleep tugged at him.
Just as he was about to drift off, a silver Ferrari roared up from behind, its sleek body glinting in the dim light, impossibly striking against the gloomy sky…
(Chapter End)
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