V5C2 Part4

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Part 4

Kakihara-san

is enrolled in the Dance Course in the Department of Performing Arts.

The

department here is known for having some of the most unusual classes in the

University of Arts. As the name of the department implies, if the classes are

dance, the assignments are dance, and once you enter, you will spend your days

dancing.

So

Kakihara-san sometimes dances in the club room of the art club, and it's peculiar

for him to suddenly start dancing and then vomit at the New Year's party... but

I guess you could say it's unique to the dance course.

In

addition to the dance course, the Department of Performing Arts has two other

courses: the stage design course, which trains students in stage design and

production, and the acting and direction course. In the Acting and Directing

course, students learn about acting, and naturally, they work as actors.

Only the

students in this course had some interaction with the Department of Visual

Arts. When it comes to where actors can work, it is either on stage or in

dramas. This naturally leads to a connection with students in the Department of

Visual Arts who are looking for actors to appear in their films.

And.

This was

where the incident with the quitting student came from.

"I'll

get straight to the point. Is there a student named Shibata in your

class?"

As soon as

we arrived at the Spade, Kakihara-san asked me with a serious look on his face.

"......Yes,

there is"

Kakihara-san

is a serious person. He usually acts like he's having a good time and hangs out

with seniors like Kiryu, but at the root of it all, he's the type of person who

takes his duty and humanity seriously, and while he cares for Sugimoto-san, who

is one year younger than him, like a younger brother, he lashes out when things

get unreasonable. He was very angry at the school festival last year, and even

after the festival was over, I heard that he personally shouted at the office

of the singer who cancelled the event and made him apologize to the people

involved.

It was

sort of natural that Kakihara-san acted with considerable anger in relation to

a case involving a certain new student in the acting and directing course.

"She

had a promising future."

The name is

Matsunaga Rui.

From the

beginning of last year's entrance, she quickly made a name for herself and was

talked about as one of the great first-year students. She had good instincts,

and also showed an insatiable interest in other things besides acting, and had

been interacting with seniors from other courses. That's where he also met

Kakihara-san.

"She

was curious and interested in everything. She was an interesting junior."

She was

also interested in a recruitment notice put out by a film student. She

volunteered to play the lead role in a team called the Kuroda Team.

"She

was so excited about it. In fact, I was shown the movie and it was good. And

yet..."

Not long

after, she quit college. I heard that the teachers were very reluctant to let

her go, so I guess she really was a talented girl.

"Rumor

has it that it was the director of the movie that drove her to quit school. I

wanted to at least complain to him about what he'd done."

"But

you know", Kakihara-san said, cutting the conversation short,

"But

the film belongs to the director. Of course, there will be some conflict, and

if she breaks down and quits because of that, she won't last long, to begin

with. I know that."

It's not

uncommon to hear of conflicts between directors and actors in any group. In

fact, it is only when the director and actors come to blows with each other

that the film can be seen as a work of art.

"But

that girl... Matsunaga was not that weak. No matter how many times her

performance was broken, she could always stand up to it. That's why I just

can't believe it."

Kakihara-san

thought that the actress, Matsunaga, must have had some trouble with something

other than acting. He also thought that the director, Shibata, was partly

responsible for that.

"Therefore,

there is something I want Hashiba-kun to cooperate with."

"What

do you mean...?"

"I

heard that this director Shibata rarely attends classes now. That's why I

couldn't find him even when I was staking out the department."

Of course,

the circumstances were different, but Kakihara-san was doing something similar

to what I did in the art department.......

"So I

thought it would be easier to get information from you, since you're in the

same department and in the same class. I'm not asking you to bring him with

you, but if you find out anything about him, please let me know."

For a

moment, I wondered if I should take it lightly, since it involved personal

information, but Kakihara-san was a trustworthy person, and it wasn't like he

was going to hit him out of the blue.

He wants

to know what happened. I know exactly how he felt, and if I had been in the

same situation, I think I would have acted similarly to Kakihara-san.

Then I

decided,

"Got

it, I'll let you know when I know something."

Kakihara-san

finally smiled and said,

"Thank

you, Hashiba-kun is dependable and I can rely on you."

Relieved,

he poured the rest of the Coke down his throat in one gulp.

(Dependable...

huh?)

Of course,

I think Kakihara-san meant what he said. However, I received that comment with

a bittersweet feeling.

Kakihara-san

was also able to interact with Tsurayuki during the school festival.

I remember

praising him, saying he was a good guy, a sincere guy and he liked him. I

wonder if Kakihara-san will still trust me when he finds out that I'm the one

who pushed that guy over the edge.

This one,

although close to me, is not directly related to me. But the more I talked

about it, the more I felt as if I was being tested.

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