Chapter 10: Crisis Emerges

Seiko observed the filming of Guilty of Romance for two days.
She discovered that although Ōmori Ryō was a scumbag with questionable character, he was also absolutely a talent for shooting low-budget films.
At least when it came to saving money, Ōmori Ryō definitely had a knack.
For instance, the setting for the three women’s eventual descent into debauchery and the female professor’s ultimate death was, in the script, a dilapidated apartment on the love hotel street.
Such an apartment wouldn’t be hard to rent, and the rent wasn’t expensive.
However, Ōmori Ryō didn’t even want to pay that modest rent.
He found an abandoned, unguarded residential building in the suburbs, secretly filmed interior scenes there at night, hung some colored lights outside the windows to simulate street lights, and then withdrew with his crew at dawn.
Not only did this save rental costs, but it also placed all the scenes of depravity at night, which perfectly matched the film’s inherent sense of sinful decline.
Another example: for outdoor scenes, occupying lanes or streets required paying the government and nearby businesses, which Ōmori Ryō didn’t want to do.
So, when filming exteriors, he had his staff watch for police or traffic officers at intersections.
As soon as a patrol or traffic officer appeared, they would immediately retreat with the crew.
Although this caused complaints from nearby businesses and residents and bothered passing vehicles, it indeed saved the crew a large sum of money.

This day, the crew was again filming an interior scene.
They were shooting the part where the writer’s wife is lured by a so-called talent agent into becoming a revealing photo model and engaging in relations with a male model.
This particular scene was a cliché, one of the most common in AVs, something that could be filmed by simply placing a bathtub in front of a window.
So, the crew returned to the studio that Bubble Witch used specifically for shooting AVs.
Seiko wasn’t interested in shooting AVs, but she was curious about the filmmaking process, so she came to observe after school today.
Ōmori Ryō actually wanted to persuade Seiko not to come and join the fun.
With Seiko and Saori present on set, both the male and female performers were a bit inhibited.
It wasn’t out of concern for the psychological health of teenagers or anything; it was mainly because these two were the daughters of a Yakuza boss.
What if they upset the Yakuza boss, and he had them encased in concrete and used as foundations?
The Inoshikachō trio had been assigned by Yamagami Takashi to assist Ōmori Ryō’s crew.
Seiko kept feeling that these three recently showed signs of being physically exhausted, especially “Butterfly,” who had developed dark circles under his eyes.
‘To think that Nishida Jun, a former good student, was actually a hidden pervert, exhausting himself just by watching AV filming for a few days…’
Seiko grumbled inwardly.

Clang!
The studio door was suddenly burst open without warning, and several uniformed police officers rushed in.
The sudden appearance of the police startled the crew into a flurry of activity.

“Ōmori Ryō, what are you doing? Do you know how many complaints we’ve received recently!”
Kihara Shinichi, an officer from the Urawa Police Station’s Investigation Section One, walked in, shouting.

“Please, Officer,” Ōmori Ryō said, looking quite distressed, “If you burst in like this, this film reel is ruined! 35mm film, it’s very expensive!”

“Stop with the nonsense!”
Kihara Shinichi’s sharp gaze swept over everyone in the studio, finally landing on Seiko  and Saori, who were still in their school uniforms and clearly underage.
“If you’re making AVs, then make AVs properly; I couldn’t care less. But lately, you’ve been taking cameras around, harassing residents everywhere, and scattering blood packs all over the place. Do you know there are rumors of a serial killer circulating recently?”
“And why are there minors here? Who are they? Ōmori Ryō, do you believe I’ll shut down your AV workshop?” Kihara Shinichi demanded, staring at Seiko and Saori.
Before Ōmori Ryō could answer, Seiko spoke first: “I am the film’s investor; I’m here to observe the filming process.”

“Film… investor?” Kihara Shinichi, whose demeanor had just been sharp, suddenly froze, almost failing to react.

“Just as it sounds,” Seiko said, “I provide the money, and Mr. Ōmori and Bubble Witch help me make films.”

“But, you… why are you investing in this film?”

“Naturally, to make money.”

“This…”
Kihara Shinichi still found it unbelievable, but a young female police officer behind him, who looked like she had just graduated, spoke up first.
Upon entering the studio and seeing the indecent scene, the young female police officer had wanted to loudly reprimand these shameless and vulgar Yakuza.
However, due to her superior and mentor, Kihara Shinichi, speaking, she couldn’t interject, but now she really couldn’t hold back.

“You’re a girl yourself, why are you making this kind of film to make money?”
The young female police officer pointed at the actress who had just gotten out of the bathtub, asking furiously.
This actress, who played the writer’s wife, with the stage name Haruka, had just been filming her revealing scene, so she was currently completely wet and stark naked.

“Don’t you know that this kind of film is enslaving and exploiting women? Don’t you have any empathy for her at all?”
Seiko looked at the young female police officer’s fiery eyes, but merely smiled softly: “Are you questioning me?”

“Of course I’m questioning you!” the young female police officer said without thinking.

“If there’s a person in a village who doesn’t eat but often gnaws on dirt, you might suspect them of pica; that’s reasonable,” Seiko said, as if not directly answering the question, “If, in a village, hundreds or thousands of people are all eating dirt, then what should you suspect?”

“What do you mean?” The young female police officer didn’t understand.

Seiko nudged her chin towards the flower district outside the window, her tone calm as she asked in return: “The women on this street who engage in group s*x, entertain clients, provide ‘bubble services,’ sell their bodies, and film adult videos could easily number in the hundreds or thousands. Why do they need to engage in such work year-round? And why can I legally become a part of this massive industry? Officer, should you be questioning me? If I don’t invest in AVs, will they then have the opportunity to live with dignity, like ordinary people? They’ll just be filming another AV anyway.”

“…”
The young female officer opened her mouth, speechless for a long moment.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa…” Ōmori Ryō interjected, “Miss Seiko, Miss Seiko, we’re not filming AVs; we’re filming an art film, registered with the film commission.”

“Oh…” Seiko suddenly realized, almost having forgotten, “Right, we’re filming an art film.”

“Alright, Kumiko, come back,” Kihara Shinichi stepped forward, interrupting the farce.
The female police officer named Kumiko gritted her teeth, but still returned to Kihara Shinichi’s side.
Kihara Shinichi scrutinized Seiko up and down, then asked, “What’s your name?”
Seiko bowed slightly and said, “Yamagami Seiko.”
“Yamagami…” Hearing this surname, Kihara Shinichi’s face showed a hint of realization, but he didn’t pursue the matter of Seiko being a minor.
Instead, he looked back at Ōmori Ryō and issued a warning—which was why he had come today in the first place.

“Ōmori, I’m warning you, no more occupying streets, blocking traffic, and no more scattering blood packs in unauthorized places! If any more residents complain about you, you’ll be detained! Let’s see how you film AVs in a jail cell!”
After issuing the warning, Kihara Shinichi left the studio with his subordinate officers.

After the police left, the crew resumed filming for some time.
When the sun set and natural light could no longer be used for daytime scenes, Ōmori Ryō finally announced the end of filming.
Of course, Ōmori Ryō also casually mentioned the evening’s filming schedule—making up for lost time was one of his methods for cutting production costs.

“Hai…”
The crew members responded perfunctorily, clearly exhausted.

“I see a hamburger shop nearby. I’ll treat everyone to hamburgers.”
Seiko, seeing the low morale, proactively offered.

“Hai!”
Only then did everyone cheer.
The entire crew poured into the hamburger shop.
Coincidentally, Kihara and his police officers were also eating hamburgers there.
Although it felt a bit inauspicious, everyone found a corner and sat down.

“I’m going to the restroom.”
Seiko whispered to Saori, then went to the restroom alone.
After using the restroom, Seiko was washing her hands at the sink when suddenly, something hard pressed against her back.

“Don’t move, Miss Yamagami,” a hoarse voice said from behind Seiko, “I don’t want to hurt you, but please don’t make any movements that might make me misunderstand.”
Seiko looked up and saw in the mirror a man with bloodshot eyes, a scruffy beard, and a shotgun in his hand.