I Reincarnated and Tried to Become a Genius Child Actor. I Want to Quit.

It seems like the author became extra-productive after a 3 week break. That means me, who basically only translates when the author posts a chapter, (to give time for editing) has to be extra-productive too.

Chapter 16, start!

“Wake up, and go to look for rhinoceros beetles.”

“Hah!?”

When my sleeping place was invaded by the annoying girl, it was still dark outside. And, when I looked into the room, it seemed that mother and the others were still asleep, and peaceful breathing was all that I could hear.

On summer vacation on when I first entered elementary school, I was staying at a mountain inn for the shooting of the movie. The TV was only showing strange programs, I couldn’t play since mother prohibited me from bringing my console, and the surrounding forests and mountains were only boring.

Since I got a big role for the first time, mother was happy too, but, when it came to the filming, the director yelled at me, and only Kami-sama knows how many retakes I did. I wanted to do it perfectly, yet I didn’t understand what I did badly.

“Be natural like Nana-chan.”
“Put feeling like Nana-chan.”
“Persist as hard as Nana-chan.”
“Like Nana-chan.”
“Like Nana-chan.”

Already, I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, “Like Nana-chan.” Since some time ago, mother also didn’t like people saying, “Become a child actor like Nana-chan,” but, despite this, I’m really sick of it.

“Yesterday I said that we were going to look for rhinoceros beetles. Didn’t you say that you wanted to go?”

“But, it’s still dark out.”

“It’s no good if you don’t go at dawn. Actually, it’s best at midnight, but, as expected, if we sneak away at such a time, they’ll get mad. Now, get ready.”

The annoying girl demanded that, and I looked for my backpack taking care not to wake up mother and the others. My mother, the annoying girl, and that manager were also staying in the four-person tatami room. It’d be great if I was in a different room, but co-stars are supposed to get along, so it became that we were in the same room.

I was fumbling around in the darkness and getting my clothes on, trying not to wake them up, when the annoying girl voiced a complaint.

“Hiro, you plan on going to the forest with such an appearance? Not bringing long sleeves?”^[1]

“Nope. It’s not very cold, so this should be okay.”

“No, no. Because mosquitoes will bite, and low-lying plantlife will hurt you. I’ll have to lend a change of clothes so I’ll have to also wear that.”

“Don’t wanna wear pink clothes!”

“Nn, if that’s the case, I wonder if a white jersey is okay?”

Saying that, the annoying girl handed me a white jersey. But, the places near the wrists and ankles were pink; it was obviously a woman’s. I voiced a complaint about how I was a guy wearing that, but, “If you get used to it, it won’t matter,” said the annoying girl, then strongly put it on me.

As we left, it was still dark like I thought, the atmosphere was a little gloomy, and the forest behind the inn felt a little strange. I hesitated to enter the forest.

“Scary? If you’d like, it’s okay to wait here.”

“I-It’s not scary at all!”

Yes, the annoying girl said that, so I bluffed.

When I entered the forest, short trees grew thickly by my feet, and some places I had to push my way through if I wanted to go forward. If I came with short sleeves and shorts, here and there, I’d probably get a graze. It was annoying to have listened to what the annoying girl told me, but wearing the jersey was the correct decision.

While the annoying girl was shining her flashlight, the annoying girl picked up a stick from somewhere, brandishing it about, and destroying spiderwebs.

“Seriously, are there rhinoceros beetles in such a place?”

“Probably. Yesterday, I coated a tree with honey, so I think they’ll gather. Besides, it was really close to where they live, so… Look, there.”

When the annoying girl shined the flashlight on a tree, there were around six insects with a black luster gathered.

“Nn, there aren’t any rhinoceros beetles. Miyama stag beetles, and I think that one is a giant stag beetle.”

“Giant stag beetle! Seriously!?”

When I looked closely at the tree, compared to the ones at the department store, a giant stag beetle, one size bigger, was clinging on. Near it, there were miyama stag beetles of around the same size but with a strange shape.^[2]

“Cooool! The giant stag beetle is cool too, but these weird things are cooler!”

“Those are miyama stag beetles.”

The short and stout giant stag and the serrated bug that I haven’t seen before, I guess it was called a miyama stag beetle. Cool!

“For now, I guess you’re okay with just the giant stag beetle and the miyama stag beetle? They’re female drone beetles.”

“Was that all?”

“No, but they’re not needed. They’ll die if we get more than necessary. I didn’t bring more than 3 bug cages, so, when we find a rhinoceros beetle, we’ll return.”

When the annoying girl said that, the annoying girl scooped up the giant stag beetle and put it into the bug cage.

“That miyama stag beetle will enter the bug cage.”

Saying so, the annoying girl opened the cage door and handed the bug cage to me.

“No, you’re good at handling it. I can’t.”

“Go from behind, like that, and, when you’re holding it, make sure not to go through the pincers.”

Timidly, I grabbed it using a lot of force, but it simply clung and wouldn’t fall off.

“If it’s like that, suddenly ripping it off is good. Firmly rip with one breath.”

The annoying girl said that, so I resolutely put more strength into it, easily falling off. It seems that the miyama stag beetle was threatening me with opening its pincers, and its legs were moving with a wakiwaki.

“Super cool!”

“Isn’t it? There are more places with honey, so should we go?”

When we moved to a place a little ways away, there were also a lot of bugs gathered, but, this time, there was a big rhinoceros beetle.^[3]

“Rhinoceros beetle! Cooool!”

“Exactly, there’s a male and a female. Let’s set aside the pair. Okay, bug cage.”

“…Rhinoceros beetles, how to hold them?”

“By the small horn. If you carry it by the long horn, it can fall off from its head, so absolutely never do that.”

If I pulled on the long horn, it could fall off. I saw the prominent horn, decorating the big body that shined with a black luster, at the department store, but mother didn’t like insects, so she didn’t buy the rhinoceros beetle. The one that I’m seeing now is entirely bigger than the one at the department store.

“Cooooool!”

The giant stag beetle was good, but, yep, the rhinoceros beetle is number one. When I was looking at it, my heart went wakuwaku a little.

“This one is female. For now, I’ll put them together, but, later, I think it’ll be good to buy another bug cage to separate them.”

“Is it bad if they’re together?”

“It’s great if they reproduce, but it’s more important for them to live a long life.”

“Ohh, you know a lot, don’t you?”

“Use Nana, not you.”

“N?”

“Didn’t I say that yesterday? Since we’re friends, let’s call ourselves by our first names. I’m Hanasaki Nana.”

Oh yeah, yesterday, when I was crying because the director was mad, she said such a thing.

“I never said that we were something like friends!”

“Then, it can be just for show. Let’s become friends for the sake of role immersion, okay?”

While smiling and saying that, the rhinoceros beetle entered the bug cage.

“Can you give one to me?”

“I don’t really need them, so you can have them all.”

“All!? You’re a great person!”

“So, n. a. m. e.”^[4]

“I get it, we’re friends, Nana!”

This, the strange girl…Nana and I became friends in a moment.

After that, in the time between the filming, we practiced acting, and, when it wasn’t my turn, we snuck away to catch fish bare-handed in the river, we built a secret base on a tree, we played various things that I didn’t know, and I learned a lot.

Nana isn’t like other girls; she doesn’t talk about boring things forever, and, disregarding that, she never cries. When we play together, it feels like she talks like a guy. It’s fun and amusing.^[5]

Besides, it always goes as how she say it will. The director wasn’t getting mad, and, conversely, I was getting praised a lot.

After that, we co-starred several times, and, each time, we did various things for role immersion.

At that time we played a couple, according to the script, we were supposed to go on a fake date, but it was completely boring, so she brought me to a game center midway. I entered the game center, which wasn’t as scary as adults said it was, for the first time, and all the strange games were fun.

When we were acting as assassin twins, we practiced the scene where we hugged each other half-nude, where I had to call her, “nee-sama.”

“Good, we are the lost children of the Ceaușescu family.^[6] Slaves bought by the mafia, we’re broken twins who were forced into violence and murder.”

“Chowshehsku?”^[7]

“A big-time foreigner from a long time ago. Hiro and I are orphan twins.  Besides ourselves, there’s nobody that we are able to trust. We’re broken, broken, broken to the end, we can’t stay apart, our personalities are mixed together, nobody can tell who is who.”

“…Don’t really get it.”

“Then, until we start filming, let’s live our life like our live. Okay?”

“Understood, Nana.”

“Wrong, it’s nee-sama.”

“…Nee-sama.”

“Good boy, Nii-sama.”

Saying that, Nee-sama suspiciously laughed, hugging me close.

Then, when I was living the life of the broken twin role, gradually, the boundary line between my role and myself grew vague, and it was like nee-sama was my real twin. Only us two in this world, with nobody else to rely on but nee-sama. As puppets, we can cut down others lives to increase our own. So———

“Hiro, the filming already ended?”

“Eh, nee-sama…?”

“Are you going to do this forever? Don’t be stupid.”

When I noticed it, my face was in pain. It seems like Nana slapped me.

“You were smiling weirdly all the time, so I was worried if you were taking some strange medicines.”

“Huh? Filming?”

“Like I said, it’s all already over. Today, we’re free to sightsee, so let’s go play somewhere.”

When I noticed it, I was seeing an unfamiliar landscape.  Sitting on my hotel bed, I saw through the window to see a place filled with tropical plants that were like the ones I saw on TV and white building standing in a line. Walking down the road were noting but brown-skinned foreigners. I heard that we were filming in a foreign country, so I think that this is probably not Japan.

My memories of these past several moths were vague, so, when I asked Nana,

“Hiro was doing(acting) it perfectly. The director was praising you, did you forget?”

“…I don’t remember.”

“Hmmm, who cares? Shinosaki-san and your mom are waiting in the lobby, so let’s hurry.”

After that, we sightseed together, returned to Japan, and, when we saw the final version of the movie, I recalled the memories of when we were filming. But, it was still hazy, I really only remember it as I watch the movie, but I was acting the best until now on the screen.

The figure that’s brandishing the axe wildly and speaking with broken laughter was something, until now, something that I couldn’t have acted.

Yep, as Nana said, it went well.

Though, I thought that we would co-star together from now on, yet, suddenly, I couldn’t co-star with Nana anymore.

Because I became an idol.

My mother said, “If you want to become a masked rider, becoming an idol is good,” and I agreed without much thought. I wanted to become a masked rider when I was in kindergarten(child), now, I’m more interested in a certain elementary schooler(adult).

Since it’s like that, I wanted to quit being an idol and turn back to being a child actor, but I’ve already switched offices, so, now, I’m not able to quit.

Besides, Nana said, “Eh? You wanted to become a masked rider, so you switched into being an idol? I was sure that idols that’re masked riders had a little something… Besides, the guarantees are cheap and the restriction times are long, so isn’t it hard when idols become famous? Apart from that, you’ll become the talk of the school; do you understand how many times you’ll be talked to?”

And so, she became annoying again.

It doesn’t mean that I wanted to become a masked rider to that extent, but even I don’t know why I became an idol. Since some time ago, I’ve been surrounded by girls at school and it seems like I’ve already been talked to the most; the girls blabber about particularly uninteresting topics endlessly.

I wanted to ignore them, but Nana tells me to be careful around fans. Especially women, among them, I must not make enemies out of married ones. I’ve been careful over and over.

But, this is already my limit.

“I really want to quit being an idol already!”

“If I want to quit, I should quit!”

I was called to the old building, and after a long time, I met Nana, and, when I complained, I quickly got a yes.

Eh, I wonder if quitting’s okay?

[1] Nanami-chan you were already planning to make him your (long) sleeeeeeeeeveeeee this early!?!?!?
[2]