I am a voice actor, not your emotional support

Toru Uehara: "..."

"Ms. Sakura is exactly like how I imagined Hotaru to be. She's really adorable."

"Mr. Midorikawa, what about Uehara-senpai?"

“Uehara-san’s voice is exactly what I imagined it to be, and it’s really great.”

"That is to say, in terms of personality..."

Toru Uehara looked at Sakura Ayane's behavior, which was obviously a provocation, and immediately realized that there must be cameras filming around.

He realized that, without realizing it, even interactions in daily life had become a performance.

This made Toru Uehara somewhat understand why Mizuno Inori needed to find some special ways to relieve stress.

It's really annoying.

“I didn’t, I didn’t say that, Uehara-san…”

Uehara Toru smiled at Midorikawa-sensei to show that he was fine, then turned to look at Sakura Ayane and said coldly, "I heard that the stairs at Kamishikimi Kumanoza Shrine are very slippery. You should pray that you don't fall when you wear this kind of clothes."

Sakura Ayane: "Senior, are you cursing me?"

"Just reminding you."

"Humph."

The cameraman captured the interaction between the two and watched it with great interest.

-

Kamishikomi Kumanoza Shrine is located at 2619 Kamishikomi, Takamori-cho. It took about minutes to drive from the hotel, so it is indeed quite far.

As soon as you get off the car and park it, a moist forest scent hits you in the face, accompanied by a cool mountain breeze, making you feel refreshed.

The skirt Sakura Ayane was wearing was quite thin, and she soon felt cold and quickly covered her arms with her hands.

Tetsu Uehara looked at the entrance of the shrine not far away, and the feeling of being there immediately came to his mind. Since he had seen the scenes in the animation, he felt an indescribable sense of familiarity when he came to this filming location in person.

It is clearly the real world, but it gives people a wonderful experience as if they have stepped into an illusion.

"Ms. Sakura, would you like a coat?"

"No, thanks. I put on this outfit on purpose, how could I back down now?" Although Sakura Ayane doesn't usually show it, she is also a very stubborn person.

"It must have rained yesterday, otherwise it wouldn't be so cold and gloomy today," Teacher Midorikawa explained.

When she saw this familiar scene, nostalgia and tenderness appeared in her eyes.

Uehara Toru was walking in front, and he was the first to reach the torii gate of the shrine. Looking ahead, there was a long staircase with tall pine and cypress trees on both sides. The moss on the steps was clearly visible, and it was indeed easy to slip if you didn't pay attention.

"Uehara-san, take this with you later."

The filming staff handed Toru Uehara a miniature microphone that could be clipped to his collar, and he nodded in thanks.

After Sakura Ayane also arrived, everyone started to visit the place together.

The shrine and forest are very similar to the scenes in the animation, but there are some subtle differences, which is even more so after observing them in person.

During the visit, Mr. Midorikawa also began to share his own creative stories, such as why he chose this place as the filming location and how the idea of ​​the story of "Firefly Forest" came about.

"At first, my idea was to draw a picture of a girl rushing towards a boy, but the boy dodged, and the scene was set in a summer forest," recalled Midorikawa.

"So, at first, teacher, you were not sure what Yin's identity was?"

"Well, I haven't thought about it very clearly, but I really like the fox mask. It is mysterious and a little weird. I like this subtle feeling." Teacher Midorikawa continued to share.

"Eh~" Sakura Ayane felt quite fresh after listening to these creative secrets. There are actually not many opportunities to communicate closely with the original author. Field investigation and experience, coupled with communication with the author, will indeed allow them to have a deeper understanding of the work.

It is definitely helpful for producing better works.

Toru Uehara carefully observed the surrounding pine and cypress trees, paying attention to every detail here.

Standing in the mottled sunlight, he seemed to blend into the surrounding environment, with the breeze blowing his hair. His mysterious and handsome temperament was very similar to the character Gin in the animation.

Sakura Ayane and Midorikawa-sensei couldn't help but stare at him for a while longer. Suddenly, they heard Uehara Toru's question.

"Mr. Midorikawa, in your opinion, what kind of person is Gin?"

"Silver?" Mr. Midorikawa repeated and began to think about how to answer this question.

"He is a human child, but he was abandoned by humans. To sum it up in one sentence... he is probably a child who needs warmth."

"So, even though he knew that he would disappear if touched by humans, he always wanted to hug Hotaru."

"Warmth..." Uehara Toru nodded thoughtfully, then smiled at Midorikawa-sensei in a silver voice, "Thank you, I understand."

Sakura once again realized his genuine passion and dedication to his work, so she suggested, "Uehara-senpai, how about we try to act out a scene here as well?"

"How about live dubbing?"

"can."

Toru Uehara will never refuse anything that involves serious work.

Sakura Ayane quickly found a suitable branch nearby, grabbed one end herself, and handed the other end to Uehara Toru.

Uehara realized that she was imitating a scene from the anime, since Gin and Hotaru couldn't touch each other directly, so they used a branch as a medium to connect.

The moment he took the branch, Sakura Ayane immediately got into the mood, and she playfully recited the heroine's lines.

"Hey, it feels like a date~"

"That's really a date without romance." Toru Uehara's voice was as gentle as the breeze in the forest. Although his expression was still indifferent, it was also in line with Gin's character setting.

The cameramen behind them saw this scene and quickly adjusted their positions to capture the scene. When the two of them looked at each other, the cameramen keenly zoomed in.

After shooting this beautiful scene, the cameraman suddenly realized a problem.

Are they about to film this behind-the-scenes footage into a dating variety show?

But the audience should also like to watch it, right?

-

After completing a complete pilgrimage, everyone returned to the hotel and had free time to relax and have fun. Tomorrow we still have a whole day to explore Kumamoto City and then fly back to Tokyo in the afternoon.

After getting in the car, today's filming was almost over and enough behind-the-scenes footage had been captured.

Toru Uehara chose to sit in the back row with the cameraman and watch the footage that had just been shot.

Sakura Ayane noticed this and looked over curiously.

It was not until Toru Uehara returned to the hotel and got off the bus that Sakura Ayane walked up to the cameraman and asked, "What was he looking at just now?"

"Are you trying to see if you are photographed well?"

"No, Miss Sakura, he is looking at the scenery he just filmed. Mr. Uehara seems to be particularly concerned about these scenery. He looked at it over and over again for a long time..." the cameraman replied.

When Sakura heard this, she couldn't help but think of how he had behaved along the way.

This guy... is really serious about his work.

……

As night fell and the full moon hung high in the sky, everyone in the hotel enjoyed the dinner carefully prepared by the proprietress, toasted their glasses and laughed happily.

However, since Sakura Ayane was not yet of the legal drinking age, she could only drink juice instead of alcohol. On the other hand, Uehara Toru, who was sitting next to the supervisor, chose to drink juice and did not join in the drinking.

After dinner, Toru Uehara and the supervisor took a bath together. While the supervisor was slightly tipsy, Toru Uehara successfully obtained the permit and car keys, and planned to go out on his own to visit Kamishiromi Kumanoza Shrine again.

After changing his clothes and putting on his shoes and preparing to go out, Toru Uehara saw Sakura Ayane standing not far from the door. She was still wearing the pink skirt, but she had put on a coat.

When Sakura Ayane saw him coming out, she gave him a sly smile, like a fox: "Sure enough... Senior, are you planning to go to the shrine?"

Toru Uehara frowned slightly and was about to speak when he heard Sakura Ayane's next sentence.

"Senior, I also want to go and take a look. Let's go together."

"Seeing how serious you are, I think I can't just let it go. After all, I still have to voice the heroine."

"In a good work, our performance as the protagonists is crucial, isn't it?"

Uehara Toru was silent for a while, and finally said calmly: "Get in the car."

Sakura Ayane felt somewhat happy, she felt that she seemed to have finally found the right way to communicate with Uehara Toru. As long as they talked about work, Uehara Toru seemed to be much easier to communicate with.

However...she really wants to complete the dubbing work of this work properly now.

The atmosphere of hard work seemed to be contagious, and seeing her partner so focused, she couldn't help but become more engaged.

After sitting in the passenger seat of the car, Sakura Ayane felt a little excited: "Going to the mountains and forests at this time always feels like a test of courage."

Uehara Toru glanced at her and said, "If you're scared, just stay in the car by yourself later."

"No, I just think it's interesting."

"But, Senior, aren't you curious about why I could guess that you were going to come out?"

"..." Toru Uehara was driving seriously and had no intention of replying to her.

"Because your behavior of getting the supervisor drunk was so obvious, and you hadn't drunk any alcohol yet, and you acted like you were obsessed with that place when you came back, so I guessed it."

"You've been staring at me?"

"Tsk tsk, narcissistic, I'm just more observant."

After saying this, Sakura Ayane stopped disturbing Uehara Toru and turned her gaze to the scenery outside the car window and the bright moon hanging high in the sky. It was bright and clear, giving people a feeling of intimacy and security.

In the middle of the night, I sneaked out without telling any staff, just to visit the shrine again and conduct field research for dubbing work.

I have to say that Toru Uehara is indeed a bit weird, but at the same time, what he does is also quite romantic.

It feels really good to take action immediately after thinking of something.

……

When they stood in front of the shrine again, the atmosphere around them was completely different from that during the day, but it was not as dark as they had imagined.

Thanks to the bright moonlight, they could clearly see every bit of moss on the steps.

Toru Uehara walked forward slowly without waiting for Sakura Ayane. He planned to go all the way up to the place where the hero and heroine hugged for the first time in the animation.

Sakura Ayane followed behind him, feeling this wonderful experience.

"Speaking of which, Senior, when you asked Mr. Midorikawa that question this morning, did you have any insights after getting the answer?"

"Insights?" Uehara Toru shook his head. "No, I just wanted to know if there were any similarities between the character of Gin and me."

The night breeze blew, bringing a hint of coolness. Under normal circumstances, Sakura Ayane might have felt scared, but at this moment her heart was unusually calm.

"So, is there?"

"A little."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell."

"That's it?" Sakura Ayane was stunned.

Uehara Toru turned around and looked down at her: "What about you, do you have anything in common with your character?"

Sakura Ayane thought for a while and said seriously: "Of course there are. For example, I also have short hair and liked to wear that kind of skirt when I was a child. But I don't like to use hairpins. I feel that they are not suitable for me and they make me uncomfortable."

Toru Uehara listened and instantly lost interest, so he continued walking up.

As they walked, Sakura Ayane casually talked about her physical similarities to the heroine, Takekawa Hotaru.

After talking about appearance, she started talking about inner qualities: "I understand the feeling of longing for the big brother next door, but I actually prefer taking care of others rather than being taken care of."

"There is one thing that the heroine and I are completely consistent with," she continued.

"That is, I prefer spiritual love to physical love, that's for sure."

Hearing this, Toru Uehara paused slightly.

Sakura Ayane walked forward with a smile and continued, "It would be too superficial to judge a person based on their appearance. I think it's good to have a feeling of communicating with each other spiritually even though the two parties can't touch each other."

"The final farewell was in the form of a hug, which was actually quite romantic. A hug that only happens once in a lifetime contained more than ten years of emotions between the two people. This expression of emotion was really beautiful."

Uehara Toru nodded in agreement: "Indeed, it is meaningless to just look at the appearance. The reason why people are unique individuals is that everyone has unique thoughts."

Sakura: “???”

"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"Nothing, we're almost there. Go to the torii gate and then a little further up you'll find a path into the forest. That should be the scene of the final farewell."