Chapter 46: An Idol in My House?

“Hello, my name is Yamagami Seiko. I am the Wakagashira of the Yamagami-gumi.”

Seiko extended her hand and introduced herself.

It was unclear if the police currently knew of Seiko’s status as Wakagashira.
In any case, the middle and upper echelons of the Yamagami-gumi were all aware.
But because of her outstanding performance in both the fight against the Takada-gumi and the founding of Oshin-ya, no one within the Yamagami-gumi had yet expressed any fierce opposition to having a female minor as their Wakagashira.

This shows that Seiko’s initial request to Yamagami Nobuo—to not announce her appointment publicly and only inform the top brass at the chokusan level and above—had indeed been the right choice.

“H-hello, I’m Okada Yukiko, an artist with Sun Music.”

Okada Yukiko hurriedly extended her hand to shake Seiko’s.

As for Okada Yukiko, Seiko of course knew who she was.
However, the Okada Yukiko she knew was not the one of the present, but rather a classic case study—the “Yukiko Syndrome”—often mentioned in social psychology when discussing the “Werther effect.”

About a year from now, Okada Yukiko would leap from the record company building, choosing to commit suicide.
This event triggered a wave of copycat suicides among teenagers across Japan.
They chose similar locations—”record company buildings”—similar methods, and similar times to take their own lives.
There were more than thirty confirmed cases alone.

“I don’t know if Ishiwatari-san explained things clearly to you, but we would like to invite you to make a guest appearance in a television drama,” Seiko explained again.

The hand of this “yakuza boss” was soft, completely different from what she had imagined a yakuza’s hand would feel like.
This gave Okada Yukiko a little courage: “I-I’m sorry, I… I have no plans to appear in a pink film at the moment…”

After speaking, Okada Yukiko bowed deeply in nervousness, terrified that Seiko would fly into a rage and have her chopped up in the next moment, or perhaps do this and that before having her chopped up.

“Oh…” Seiko nodded, then smiled.
“It seems Ishiwatari-san really didn’t explain things clearly.
The drama we are preparing is not a pink film, but a proper television drama that will air on NHK, TBS, or Fuji TV.
The theme explores parent-child relationships in a new era.
You could call it a family drama.”

“Oh, I see…” Okada Yukiko breathed another sigh of relief, but still asked cautiously, just to be sure, “It’s not one of those late-night slot family dramas, is it?”

Seiko was taken aback by the question.
‘Late-night slot?’
‘Family drama?’
‘Can these two terms even be combined to create some special meaning?’
‘I haven’t misunderstood, have I?
Are the Japanese really that hardcore?’

Although she couldn’t figure out what “that kind of late-night slot family drama” was, Seiko still denied it emphatically: “No, we are aiming to air it in the prime-time slot.”

“That’s good.”

Okada Yukiko patted her chest, finally relieved.
As long as they weren’t going to chop her up or make her appear in some indecent production, she felt that even a free guest appearance wouldn’t be too hard to accept.

However, just as Okada Yukiko relaxed, someone else had an objection.

Perhaps seeing Seiko’s friendly attitude and that they were making a proper drama, Hosokawa Kazuko’s mind started working.
She stepped in front of Okada Yukiko, stopping her from agreeing on the spot, and said, “Miss Yamagami, I don’t think your methods are appropriate.
If you wish to cooperate with Yukiko on a drama, you could have easily contacted me, her manager, or Sun Music, instead of bringing us here like this.
What you’ve done not only lacks business ethics but also borders on being a criminal offense!”

Seiko turned to Hosokawa Kazuko, pointing to her own nose with a seemingly perplexed expression.
“Are you talking to me?”

“Uh, yes,” Hosokawa Kazuko felt a pang of fear.
“I mean to say…”

“Before you speak to me,” Seiko interrupted her, “please remember my identity clearly.
I am the Wakagashira of the Yamagami-gumi, not the manager of some film company.
Whether it’s business ethics or criminal activity… please don’t bother me with such superfluous matters.”

After speaking, Seiko turned to Yamagami Taka behind her and instructed, “Taka-aniki, please take this manager lady downstairs for a cup of tea.”

“Understood.”

Yamagami Taka nodded, and with a subordinate, they each grabbed one of Hosokawa Kazuko’s arms.

Amidst Hosokawa Kazuko’s panicked cries of “Miss Yamagami, you’ve misunderstood, that’s not what I meant,” she was dragged away from the scene.

Okada Yukiko, who had just calmed down, turned pale with fright.

Seiko paid it little mind and continued to introduce her drama project: “The number one female lead of this drama is my younger sister, Yamagami Aiko.
That one over there…”

Okada Yukiko followed Seiko’s finger and saw a five or six-year-old girl in an adjacent room that had been converted into a dance studio, doing stretches to relax her muscles under a dance instructor’s guidance.

“Additionally, for the number two female lead, we have invited Ms. Otake Shinobu to star.”

Although it wasn’t certain if Otake Shinobu would accept the invitation, it was best to make the boast first and deal with the rest later.

“Otake Shinobu?” Okada Yukiko was also a little surprised to hear this name.
“Ms. Otake Shinobu will be in it too?”

Even though the worlds of an idol and an art-house actress like Otake Shinobu were mountains apart, as a female artist, Okada Yukiko couldn’t help but feel a sense of reverence upon hearing the name.

‘If it’s a drama that even Ms. Otake Shinobu is starring in, then it must be a proper drama, right?’

“As for the remaining supporting roles,” Seiko handed the cast list to Okada Yukiko, “pick one that’s a suitable age and that you like, and you can play that role.”

“Oh, okay, okay…”

Although she hadn’t actually agreed yet, with Miss Hosokawa having been dragged away, Okada Yukiko didn’t dare utter a single word of refusal.

After handing over the cast list, Seiko called over to Ōmori Ryō, “Give Miss Okada a copy of the script as well, let her read it and choose.”

“Alright.”

Ōmori Ryō immediately took a copy out of his briefcase and gave it to Okada Yukiko.

Seiko and the others went on to discuss the organization’s internal affairs, mainly checking the accounts to see if they still had enough money to spend.
Okada Yukiko was left alone in the living room to read the script.
During this time, someone even came in to serve her tea and snacks.

At first, Okada Yukiko didn’t pay much attention to the script.
Her mind was a complete blur.
It wasn’t until she skimmed the character list that she suddenly noticed most of the characters seemed to be female.
There were very few male roles, and aside from the protagonist being a six-year-old girl, most of the female characters were adult women over thirty, some even in their fifties or sixties.
It was clearly not the usual youth idol drama or family ethics drama common in Japanese television today.
Out of curiosity, Okada Yukiko picked up the script and began to read.

Once she started reading, Okada Yukiko gradually lost track of time.
As the plot unfolded, as the second female lead, Nao, tried time and again to save little “Reina” only to face repeated difficulties, tears began to roll down Okada Yukiko’s cheeks, wetting the script in her hands.

Okada Yukiko’s relationship with her own mother was also strained.
Her participation in the amateur talent show “Star, Tanjō!” had been met with strong opposition from her mother and other family members.
In the end, she had to meet a set of very strict conditions from her mother—”achieve first place in school exams, rank in the top five of the entire school in the Chubu regional mock exams, and be accepted by her first-choice high school”—before she was finally allowed to compete and debut.

But all she had achieved was a successful debut.
To this day, Okada Yukiko still held a grudge against her mother, and by extension her family, for opposing her pursuit of her dreams.

However, watching the various performances of the mothers in the story, Okada Yukiko put herself in their shoes and gained many unprecedented insights into the role and meaning of being a “mother.”

“Sister, look! The teacher gave me a reward…”

A little girl, still with some baby fat on her cheeks, ran in happily, only to stop dead in her tracks when she looked up and saw only Okada Yukiko.

Okada Yukiko quickly wiped away her tears, recognizing the little girl before her as the female lead, the one called Yamagami Aiko.

Aiko noticed her sister wasn’t in the living room and was a little shy at first, but she quickly froze.
As a loyal little member of the “Seiko Faction,” how could she not recognize Okada Yukiko, who was with the same company as Matsuda Seiko and hailed as the “Successor to Matsuda Seiko”?

“Yukiko-chan?” Aiko’s eyes widened in disbelief.