Chapter 887: Where are there so many conspiracy theories?!

"Eitaro, did you miss me?!"

Returning to the old house in Shizuoka again, the first one to welcome Naoki Nagayama was this enthusiastic dog.

Naoki Nagayama stroked the bouncing Eitaro, and then looked into the room, only to find that Mother Nanako was not there either...

"It seems like she went to see the wild grass~"

Naoki Nagayama's thought turned and he realized that his father and brother were busy in the izakaya, and his mother, who couldn't stay idle at home, occasionally went to his brother's house not far away to see her grandson, and chatted with the neighbors around by the way.

It was so hot, it seems Eitaro was left to watch the house~

"So, Eitaro was left here to watch the house!" Naoki Nagayama pressed the dog's head, not letting this licking dog lick himself, and then walked into the house.

The old house was made of solid materials, and the roof was very thick. After opening the ventilation partition door, it wouldn't be very hot... Naoki Nagayama saw Meitaro lying on the eaves gallery~

"Yo, Meitaro is cooling off~" Naoki Nagayama greeted.

"Meow~ (Mm~)" Meitaro looked at the two-legged beast, called perfunctorily, and then looked at the scenery in the courtyard lazily.

"Tsk... Meitaro has more and more style!" Naoki Nagayama clicked his tongue. This orange cat has more and more kingly spirit after going to the countryside. Should he bring it back to Tokyo later?

Turning his head, he looked at the dog that had been spinning around his legs, its short tail wagging like an electric fan...

"Eitaro is still more considerate! Isn't it?"

"Wang Wang Wang! (I am the master's little licking dog!)" Eitaro stuck out his tongue and called.

"Yoshi, good dog!"

After playing with the dog downstairs for a while, Naoki Nagayama returned to the bedroom on the second floor.

He returned this time, on one hand for the continued filming of *Midnight Diner*, and on the other hand, for completing the script of *Hayato's Legend: New World*.

"The main line of the story is completed, then the next step... is to code words!"

Naoki Nagayama looked at the manuscript paper full of words, and then took out the typewriter he brought from Tokyo. Actually, there are early versions of computers now, but it is not as convenient as his own typewriter for typing.

The outline of *Hayato's Legend: New World* has tens of thousands of words, and the whole script... it seems that more than 100,000 words are indispensable. It is an arduous task!

On the highway from Kobe to Okayama, a small sedan is galloping.

"Miki-san... how long until Okayama City?" Akina Nakamori in the back row opened her eyes and asked a bit listlessly.

"It will take about an hour..." Norifumi Miki looked at Akina in the back row with some worry, "Akina-chan, do you want to rest for a while? Go out and get some air?"

"..." Akina Nakamori thought for a while, touched the car window glass, and felt it was a bit hot, "No, rest when we get to Okayama~"

"Hai..." Norifumi Miki nodded and continued to look at the road ahead.

And Ueda Maki handed over the prepared ginger water: "Akina-chan, drink some~"

"Mm... don't want to drink..." Akina Nakamori said quite dejectedly, "I really want to eat ice cream!"

"That won't do now..."

Ueda Maki persuaded. As a woman, she naturally knows that during a special period, she will especially want to eat some things, but that will hurt her body!

Perhaps because of the physiological period, Akina Nakamori, whose emotions were a bit volatile, suddenly vented her anger on her boyfriend while talking:

"That guy Naoki-san, I'm so sad... but he actually went to the nightclub with Brother Kaede!!!"

Although she was drunk last night, Naoki Nagayama still called Akina Nakamori and didn't hide the fact that he went to the nightclub.

Although he said it was to discuss the movie project, Akina's focus was naturally not on the movie...

"..."

This, Ueda Maki didn't know how to answer. Two things that are unrelated... Besides, how did Naoki Nagayama know about Akina's body...

"Maki-chan, do you think all men are scumbags and heartless people?!" Akina Nakamori complained to her little assistant, "Is it that wild flowers are always more fragrant than home flowers!"

"Shouldn't be..."

Ueda Maki persuaded with her mouth, but she was nodding wildly in her heart. Men are just like this!

The two women in the back row started an urgent discussion about men, complaining unceremoniously about the men in Japan now...

And Norifumi Miki, who was driving in front, looked ahead without saying a word, pretending to be an automatic driving machine.

"Di di di~"

Akina Nakamori's pocket suddenly rang. It was the notification sound of the pager...

Akina, who was just complaining about her boyfriend, saw the information on the small screen and became happy instantly:

"It's Naoki-san! He just returned to his old home in Shizuoka! Asking if I have time to answer the phone..."

Saying that, Akina Nakamori was about to sit in the front row and use the car phone to call her boyfriend back.

Ueda Maki looked at this scene, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly... What about their sisterly heart and shared hatred? She was just complaining about the hateful man!

Akina-chan, how did you suddenly surrender?! Are you going to convert to the opposing side?!

"Che... plastic sisters..."

"? Maki-chan, what did you say?" Akina Nakamori,

"Ah, Akina-chan, be careful. Do you want me to help you?"

"Daijoubu!"

Akina Nakamori nimbly moved from the back seat to the front seat of the moving car (kids, don't try this!), and after fastening her seatbelt, she picked up the car phone in the middle and quickly dialed a number...

"Beep~~ beep~~"

After a few long tones, the call on the other end was answered.

"Moshi moshi, this is the Nagayama residence..."

"Naoki-san, this is Akina!" Akina Nakamori said with a bright smile on her face and a very gentle tone.

"Eh?" Naoki Nagayama, who was eating cold noodles in Shizuoka, was surprised. "Akina, have you already arrived? It should still take a while, right?"

"I'm calling from the car phone~" Akina Nakamori said. "Has Naoki-san already returned to Shizuoka? Was the trip smooth?"

"Of course it was smooth..." Naoki Nagayama said. "I've been back for a few hours already and am eating lunch now... Did Akina have lunch on the road?"

"There's still an hour left; I'll eat when I get to Okayama..."

"It's not good to have an irregular eating schedule... If you're on the road, you should at least eat some snacks to tide you over..."

"Mm~~"

The two of them talked on the phone every day for over two years now, so sometimes they just chatted about these simple, everyday things, but they never got tired of it.

After ten minutes or so of chattering about their daily lives, Naoki Nagayama and Akina started talking about other things:

"Akina, you have a performance in Fukuoka, right?"

"Hai!" Akina Nakamori nodded. "The performance is in three days, why?"

"I want to go over and see it," Naoki Nagayama said. "I haven't seen Akina in a long time~"

"Really?! That's wonderful!" Akina Nakamori was pleasantly surprised. "I really want to see Naoki-san too!"

Maki Ueda in the back seat rolled her eyes... Woman, thy name is fickleness!!

Naoki Nagayama hung up the phone and continued eating the cold noodles he had made himself... As for cold noodles, they still tasted fine after ten minutes.

The sun outside was at its strongest, and Naoki Nagayama didn't want to go out, so after eating, he returned to his room and continued writing.

It wasn't until after three in the afternoon that he drove to the hotel where the "Midnight Diner" crew was staying; everyone was there to escape the heat~

"Naoki-san!" Muneo Matsuo saw Naoki Nagayama first. "You're back!"

"Yeah..." Naoki Nagayama walked over to the group of people cooling off. "How is it? I was in Tokyo these past few days; how has the filming been going?"

"With Naoki-san away, progress has naturally been a bit slow," Muneo Matsuo said with the youthful spirit unique to him. "But with everyone's cooperation, we managed to film it!"

"So that means the material for the fourth episode is almost ready!" Naoki Nagayama patted him on the shoulder, very satisfied. "Perfect, come with me to Tokyo this week..."

"Minna-san, 'Midnight Diner' has passed the review by TV Tokyo and will be broadcast in September!"

Naoki Nagayama announced the good news to the crew and then patted Muneo Matsuo on the shoulder.

"The first three episodes have already been edited. From now on, we have to return to Tokyo every week to edit the latest episode... Matsuo-kun, from now on, you'll be responsible for delivering the finished film to the people at TV Tokyo!"

"Hai!"

"Also, when we go back this time, we'll also participate in the preview screening of 'Our Little Sister'; Matsuo-kun, you put in the effort for that too, right!"

"Yes... but I was seconded to the 'One Cut of the Dead' crew halfway through~" Muneo Matsuo replied.

"Hahaha, then you are also a member of the creative team for 'Our Little Sister'..." Naoki Nagayama laughed. "You still need to let the media get familiar with your face!"

"Hai! I understand!"

Muneo Matsuo nodded excitedly; he knew that Naoki Nagayama was helping him expand his connections. As the next generation of directors at Tree Friend, he definitely had to start preparing to stand on his own two feet from now on!

After sharing the latest information from Tokyo with the crew, Naoki Nagayama previewed the scenes to be filmed that evening with everyone.

The production of the TV series "Midnight Diner" was expected to continue until September. During this period, Naoki Nagayama would do his best to cultivate Muneo Matsuo's abilities until he could completely take over the production of the entire series...

After all, "Midnight Diner" would definitely have a second and third season; it was impossible for Naoki Nagayama to produce everything himself!

Tokyo did not stop turning because of Naoki Nagayama's departure.

With both protagonists, Naoki Nagayama and Akina Nakamori, not making public appearances, the buzz about their engagement naturally cooled down.

The hottest news in the media now was the situation at the Summer Koshien... Ube Commercial, representing Yamaguchi Prefecture, a region traditionally considered weak, pulled off an upset and made it to the finals!

The most popular high school team this summer was definitely the mythical Ube Commercial... Everyone was looking forward to them performing a miracle and defeating the Koshien kings, PL Gakuen.

And just as the sports news was in full swing, a piece of movie news was quietly released—the preview screening for "Our Little Sister" was about to begin!

Some stills from "Our Little Sister" were also released in the newspapers... the sea, the beach, beautiful girls... four of them!

"It must be a very warm and beautiful movie!"

Shiro Nishio said with a serious expression while looking at the newspaper, because sitting next to him was his girlfriend, Hiroshi Tashiro.

"Hiroshi-chan, do you want to go see it together? It seems to be in Ikebukuro!"

"..." Hiroshi Tashiro looked at the beautiful images in the stills and looked at her boyfriend with inexplicable suspicion. "Warm and beautiful?"

"Of course! Look at this color scheme! This atmosphere!" Shiro Nishio said with an unchanging expression. "Look, it's a movie produced by Tree Friend Films, and the script is by that Naoki Nagayama!"

"So what?" Hiroshi Tashiro asked suspiciously.

"You have to know, the scripts Naoki Nagayama writes are actually very interesting and very polarized... The ones with emotional themes are all very beautiful, warm, and pure love movies, like 'A Scene at the Sea,' 'Love Letter,' 'After the Rain,' and 'April Story'..."

Shiro Nishio explained eloquently. "If it's anything else, it's either very scary or very violent..."

He sighed as if with emotion: "This guy Naoki Nagayama has both gods and demons living in his heart!"

In fact, as Naoki Nagayama's fame grew, many people in Japan had begun to study everything about him...

Music, novels, scripts, movies... Each work revealed the creator's inner self, and after studying them, interested people discovered that this guy Naoki Nagayama seemed to be split in two.

He could clearly write the purest love stories, yet he could also create scripts that terrified people... The image of Sadako had already been acknowledged as the most successful ghost image in horror films in recent years!

Generally speaking, a guy with such a polarized inner self usually has psychological problems and should be living in a mental hospital.

But Naoki Nagayama was standing right in front of everyone, and his works were coming out one after another...

"What topic are you trying to change to!" Hiroshi Tashiro rolled up the newspaper and hit her boyfriend on the head with it. "You clearly just saw that the female lead is pretty, so you want to go see it!"

The slapping sounds rang out one after another, and Shiro Nishio dodged while saying:

"Hiroshi-chan, listen to my sophistry... ah no, explanation!!! I really just want to appreciate this movie with an artistic eye!"

"Baka, shine!!!"

"..."

Regardless of how many people were attracted by this movie trailer, the editorial department of "Kinema Junpo" was already prepared.

"Editor-in-chief, please leave this report to me!" Ren Tabata requested of Editor-in-chief Shin Ishizuka. "I will definitely do a good job with the report!"

Shin Ishizuka frowned, thinking while smoking a cigarette:

"This 'Our Little Sister' shouldn't be that simple..."

"?"

"Isn't Tree Friend planning the Tokyo International Film Festival?" Shin Ishizuka said. "Releasing this movie at this critical moment must have some considerations..."

"??" Ren Tabata was puzzled. "What considerations? It's about to be released! The Tokyo International Film Festival isn't until October at the earliest..."

"That's right! October!" Shin Ishizuka said, as if enlightened. "If 'Our Little Sister' is released in September, it will have been out for exactly one month..."

"Released for a month... does that have any connection?"

Shin Ishizuka inhaled a mouthful of smoke and exhaled it slowly, his whole person calming down:

"If I'm not mistaken, 'Our Little Sister' will serve as the opening film... letting filmmakers from all over the world watch it..."

"If that's the case, Tree Friend must be very satisfied with the quality of this movie!"

"Is this to build momentum?"

"That's it, the director is Masataka Komori, the next-generation pillar of Tree Friend Films! They must be trying to promote him!"

"..." No, there must be a further plan!"

"This guy Naoki Nagayama must be plotting some conspiracy! I must find it out!"

Ren Tabata looked at the slightly abnormal editor-in-chief and didn't know what to say for a moment... Calling him obsessed seemed to make sense, but saying he made sense...

Tree Friend Films promoting their own movie... that's very normal, right!

How can there be so many conspiracy theories?!

"Never mind the rest... anyway, Editor-in-chief, just leave this interview task to me!"

Ren Tabata decided to grab the task first! His topic depended on this movie!