|| The Day He Woke Up (Eng Ver.) [Utapri Fanfiction] ||

Chapter 4

~Ai POV~

A few days later, we were back to our usual routine. Today Ranmaru and Camus were shooting for a car commercial, while Reiji and I were shooting a TV drama. “Good luck with Reiji, Ai,” Ranmaru said before leaving with Camus. “Hmmm… we still have 25 before we have to go,” I mumbled. I walked to my room, but just as I was about to pass by Reiji's room, I saw the door was open. Curious, I peeked. Reiji was laying forward on the floor, facing the door while writing something. "Reiji," I called out, causing him to look up by reflex. "What are you doing?" I asked. “Oh, this? I corrected the song lyrics for our drama, while there's still time," he replied, showing me the paper he had written. I approached him and sat next to him. “Hmm… good, but it looks like you have to reduce the words here to fit the tone of this section…” I said.

For 20 minutes, we discussed the lyrics for our song. I glanced at the clock on the wall in the room, then said, "We have to go downstairs,"
Reiji agreed to me. I returned to my room, grabbing my backpack and joined Reiji to the front door.
The car that would take us to the shooting location was waiting on the side of the road. Without waiting any longer, we entered it. "It's about 15 kilometers from here," I muttered. "You're right, plus the roads are jammed," said Reiji, looking out the window, "it's going to be a long trip,"
I sighed. That's right, a long trip with Reiji's constant chattering. I tried to ignore it, choosing to open the manuscript book and memorize the first part.

I didn’t know how long it took, but Reiji suddenly tapped me on the shoulder. “Ai-Ai, let’s go! We’ve arrived!" he said loudly. He smiled widely and his eyes sparkled. Looks like he’s happy we're going to shoot. "You look so happy," I commented. "Mhm, to be more precise I'm really excited to be shooting a drama with you!" he answered, then pulled my arm out of the car. Hmm… excited, huh? Ok, I'll put that emotion into my memory.

We were immediately told to change clothes and wait for the preparations to be completed. It's my first time to play in a TV drama with Reiji. I often do it alone or with Natsuki and Syo. I didn’t really know the storyline yet, this is just the first day of shooting. As far as I know, The drama is about two friends. Then, one of them got a job from another country and left the other friend. After a few years, those who were left behind received news that their friend had been killed while leaving for work. I became the one who went overseas and Reiji who was left behind.
"There's more to come," I mumbled to myself, flipping through the manuscript. Reiji and I were now sitting under a tent, waiting to be called. Reiji next to me also seemed to be focused on reading his script. We've both been training of course. I wanted to make sure we didn’t make the slightest mistake.

“Mikaze-san, Kotobuki-san! We’re starting now!" the director called out to us. Reiji and I put our scripts on the chairs, then walked fast to the shooting crew. “Ah, Mikaze-san, sorry, can you untie your hair during shooting? It will suit the character of the person you play better,” said a makeup crew who did my makeup. I nodded, did as she told me to, then ran my fingers through my hair to straighten it. The makeup crew gave me a thumbs up before approaching Reiji and handing him a hat. I didn't notice Reiji's gaze at me changed since I removed my ponytail.

~5 hours, 36 minutes and 20 seconds later~

Reiji and I were sitting in a living room in the shooting area. We were doing a scene where I told Reiji that I would be working overseas.
“I promise to visit you once in a while. Don't worry," I said with a smile. Reiji lowered his head, then nodded five seconds later.
“CUT!!” shouted the director. Reiji breathed a sigh of relief. He got up from his chair and walked towards the director. I followed behind him.
"This is perfect. You two didn't do anything wrong since the beginning!" said the director, he nodded curtly at us.

Reiji and I thanked him at the same time. After that, we were allowed to rest. "Let's go back to the tent," suggested Reiji.
We sat back on the folding chairs in silence. "I guess all those practice paid off, huh," Reiji said. I glanced at him, then nodded. “Well… even though your schedule is too tight. You should loosen it up a bit. I'll die if I continue like that," he chuckled softly. I shook my head, “I can't. I have made the schedule as efficient as possible, after all I still give time to rest."
Reiji chuckled again, “Yeah right, but you forced us to practice for 4 hours straight. I feel like all my bones are going to break," he said. “It paid off, right? If not, it's possible that we're still in the opening act," I replied as I looked to the front again. Reiji shook his head and let out a long breath. He patted my shoulder and said, “You really are a perfectionist, aren't you, Aine,”