FIC: No Tenimyu, No Life, Kentaro Silliness, PGish
Title: No Tenimyu, No Life
Author: Ociwen
Rating: PGish?
Pairing(s): Kentaro/Tenimyu + others
Wordcount: 2300
Summary: All Kentaro ever wanted to do was be a part of Tenimyu.
Disclaimer: No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement of Tenimyu, Konomi, or Ueshima's cracked out mind is intended.
Warnings: the usual splooge of inappropriateness, bad jokes, inside jokes, self-orientalist jokes, offensive to everyone.
Author's notes: For wednesdayschild. Improved version, now with Wawa! Just because we lol at you, Kentaro, doesn't mean we don't love you, you big dork! ;D
When Kentaro announces that he's going to audition for Tenimyu again, Kojiro gives him a funny look: a cocked eyebrow and a slight nod.
"That didn't work out so well for you the first time," he says.
Kentaro prefers not to think about. There was a wicked hangover the morning after Ueshima told him, sorry, you're just not cut out to be Tezuka. Tezuka isn't careless enough to trip over the director's chair.
He had been dancing, but Ueshima clearly didn't understand. The chair jumped out at Kentaro. He was so in the moment channelling Tezuka's serious face that he forgot about things like balance, especially with a racket in his hand.
"You're too…flakey," Kojiro says.
This time, he knows he'll get the part. Kentaro takes himself to Book Off. He buys the entire Tenipuri series-even the new volumes, with the mean Rikkai team. Then he heads to Familymart for a dozen onigiris and he camps out in his apartment, on the floor, and reads the mangas cover to cover. He makes a list in his head of his favourite characters. Sengoku is flakey, just like him. Sengoku is happy, just like him.
Even Wawa gets in the mood. She curls up on the floor next to his hip, purring.
Kentaro slams the last volume closed. He grins to himself. He stands up to get a beer from the fridge, and he trips over the pile of comics. Headfirst, he plows into the door of his built-in closet.
"Ow," he mumbles.
Maybe Tezuka wasn't for him.
But Sengoku can be!
He grabs the can of beer, his manbag, and runs out the door. The elevator gets down to the fourth floor before Kentaro realizes that: a) he's not wearing any shoes and b) he's not wearing a shirt. A university-aged girl who lives in the building looks up and down his chest. She winks at him. Kentaro laughs awkwardly.
"You goin' somewhere?" she asks. She hides a giggle behind her hand. The elevator beeps for the ground floor. She starts to leave when Kentaro presses the button for the eighth again.
"Back home," he says.
She rolls her eyes. "Retard," she grumbles. She dashes out, just as the doors close.
***
The ramen joint is run buy a fellow named Abe. He slides another beer down the counter. "For the tall one!"
Kentaro cheers. He downs the beer in three gulps. He can't see straight and ramen noodles hang off the edge of his bowl. His cellphone rings in his pocket. He whips it out by the third cord of This is the Prince of Tennis.
"Where are you?"
Kentaro laughs. "Kojiro!"
"You have a photoshoot in twenty minutes."
Kentaro blinks. "Oops."
"Just…get your ass over here immediately."
Kentaro hops off the bar stool. Abe looks at him, crestfallen. "Gone so soon?"
Kentaro salutes him. "Tomorrow, lunch. I'll be here, or be square."
The kitchen team all cheer as he leaves. Kentaro grins. He staggers to the station and nearly walks into three salarymen. He tries to apologize, but his words get all mixed up. So he smiles instead.
Kojiro is waiting outside the west exit when Kentaro gets off the monorail on Odaiba. He sniffs the air. Kentaro keeps smiling.
Kojiro shakes his head. "Try to look serious," he says. "Give me your model face."
Kentaro wipes the smile off with the back of his head. He whips his head around to the right, and pouts. Kojiro grabs him by the chin. "More angle this way," he says. "And more serious. You look like you're plastered."
Kentaro narrows his eyes.
"Better. Not too Chinese."
He opens them a little wider.
"That'll have to do," Kojiro mumbles. Then his cellphone goes off. He walks away with his phone to his ear as the stylists come over and play with Kentaro's hair. They pop his collar and tell him to unbutton his shirt a little lower. They prod and poke until he's half-undressed in front of the building façade, pouting and angling and doing his best serious face. Kentaro feels a bit like the big meanie Sanada in Tenipuri.
And he doesn't like it.
Auditions for Tenimyu are tomorrow afternoon. He thinks about that and turns when the photographer asks. He changes his poses and pouts more until his face hurts and his cheeks are sucked in.
After, Kojiro tells him to spend tomorrow at an onsen. "Another photoshoot on Friday, this time with GAP. You need to look good, not like a drunk moron."
Kentaro nods. "Sure thing!" He salutes Kojiro and skips off to Odaiba Station. He hums This is the Prince of Tennis under his breath as he pays for the 6 pack of Asahi at Sunkus. He sings to himself on the monoral. He sings to himself as he waits for the train at Shinagawa. He taps his foot and bops his head. Another guy waiting on the platform nearby-a little younger, stumpy legs and a Korean face-mouths "Retard" to himself. Kentaro doesn't care.
Tomorrow, he's going to ace his audition!
***
He's so excited, he wakes up before the street cleaners. He's so excited, he vibrates. Sorta like his phone. Message from Kojiro: Don't be a moron today-GAP tomorrow!
Kentaro chows down four ongiri on the train to the auditions. He flips through his manga until the pages fall to the floor and an OL steps on them with her stilettos. He practices his "Lu-ucky!"s with an elementary school student. The kid picks his nose. Kentaro grins and says, "Rucki!" The kid holds out a booger on his index.
Kentaro says no thanks.
He double-checks the auditions address on his cellphone. Still the same place as 6 months ago. Dress code: audition. His sneakers squeak as he skips up the steps to the building. There are other guys around, all in sweats and sneakers like him. But none of the rest of them have a t-shirt on that says IRISH EYES SMILING, with a red-haired little man on them. Kentaro thinks it's the sort of thing Sengoku would wear. He says, "Rucki!" to himself, takes a deep breath, and pushes the door open.
Ueshima hasn’t changed. He sits on a chair on the far side of the room, with a cigarette dangling from his lips. Kentaro joins the line of audition-ees against the wall. He towers over them by a good foot.
"Extra tall, for an extra special boy," his mom would say. Kentaro nods to himself with a grin. The guy next to him, who has buck teeth and a sort of half-Japanese roundness to his eyes, asks if he's okay.
"I'm more than okay!" Kentaro says. "I'm so excited!"
The guy laughs a little. He grins back, but takes a step away. Kentaro hums under his breath. The line snakes ahead slowly. Some of the guys are really good dancers. They twirl and plié. They line dance, and tap-dance. Some of the guys are good singers. They hit high notes. They bellow low notes. Ueshima waves them away and lights another cigarettes. Kentaro continues to bop along to his mental music until his name is called.
Ueshima gives him the same look Kojiro did. "You're back again?"
Kentaro nods.
Ueshima sighs heavily. "Let's see it, then," he says.
Kentaro takes a deep breath. He gives it his all. He skips and prances. He flails his arms and says his best "RU-UCKI~!" yet. He waggles his eyebrows, and he wiggles his ears. He starts to sing "YOU KNOW? aitsu ga TENNIS no tensai shounen-"
"That's enough. That's enough!" Ueshima waves his hand. Kentaro falters. His heart skips a beat. Ueshima looks at his cast director, who leans in close to whisper something. Kentaro leans forward onto his toes.
"Thanks, but you're not our Sengoku."
Kentaro's heart sinks to the ground. It takes all his bench-pressing strength to keep his lip stiff and his face serious. All he can manage is a grunt of thanks. Then he stomps out-he means to walk out, but he just wants to get away. He can hear Ueshima and the cast director talking about him stomping away, oh he's so serious there, did you see that little glare he gave us? Yep, definitely not Sengoku. Yuuki Jutta-san, you're next!
In the lobby, Kentaro slumps against a wall. There's a message from Kojiro on his cellphone, but he can't bring himself to open it. His dreams have been crushed. He walks to go home, curl up in a rice paddy in Yamaguchi, and have a long, long drink. Other rejects mill around. Some talk. Some just grab their duffel bags and leave. Others ask if anyone wants to grab ramen.
"Count me in!" A chubby guy waddles past Kentaro. Another half-Japanese. Kentaro looks at him.
"Yeah, me too," the guy says. "Ueshima says I need to lose a few, then he'll call me back. Maybe I can make it as Yukimura, or Saeki, ne?" The guy laughs a little. His eyes are black holes of anguish and his double chin jiggles as he grimaces.
Kentaro slumps lower to the floor. His chin wobbles the more he thinks about. His eyes sting. His hands shake and then he's running to the toilets. He locks himself in a stall and lets out a sniffle-or five-into a wad of toilet paper. No Tenimyu, no life. Who cares about the GAP shoot tomorrow? He starts to cry again.
Then there are footsteps in the bathroom.
"Er…hello?" a voice asks.
Kentaro snorts up slimy, tear-streaked mucus. He bites his tongue, but he sniffles again. There's a knock on his stall.
"Are you okay?" the voice asks.
Kentaro opens the door a crack. It's the buck-toothed guy from before. He offers Kentaro a pack of freeter Kleenex without a word. Kentaro accepts them, and closes the door. He slinks out when he's decent. A few splashes of cold water to his face, and it almost hides the red eyes staring back in the mirror.
"You almost look like Kirihara," the buck-toothed halfie says.
Kentaro scowls.
The guy laughs. He points. "And you looked like Sanada just then. lols!"
Kentaro scowls even more. The guy stops laughing and says he's sorry.
"I didn't make it either," he says. He holds out his hand to introduce himself, but a scream rips through the air and cuts him off. It's high-pitched, bloodcurdling, and coming from the lobby.
They both run out to see.
In the middle of the lobby, another audition-ee runs circles, screaming like a banshee. He's half Kentaro's size, and dressed in Sengoku cosplay, complete with a ginger wig. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he howls. His throws his head back and starts to laugh hysterically. Kentaro shivers and hides behind the buck-toothed guy. The cosplayer screams, "I NEED TO BE IN TENIMYU! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!"
The buck-toothed guy whispers to Kentaro, "He's been at every audition I've been to. He even dressed up as Horio and was rejected. Pretty scary, huh?" He nods to the cosplayer, who's on his knees now, scrabbling at the floor. He whips his head around the room, staring at all of the gawkers with bloodshot eyes.
"Do we need to call the police?" someone asks.
"Or animal control?" someone else offers.
"No," the buck-toothed guy next to Kentaro says. "Call Ueshima."
Everyone stares at him. Even the cosplayer, who pauses his howling for a second. He scratches the back of his wig. "Eh?"
"You could totally pull off Kirihara," the buck-toothed halfie says.
The cosplayer blinks. He forces a little laugh.
The crowd parts and Ueshima saunters through toward the kid. He puffs on his cigarette and flicks the ashes in Kentaro's direction. "You," he says to the cosplayer.
The cosplayer stands up. His knees are scraped and his wig is falling off. He reaches up to rub his eyes, but Ueshima shakes his head. "Come back in 6 months. We want you as Kirihara."
The buck-toothed guy says to Kentaro, "Told you so."
***
He goes to the GAP photoshoot. He's hungover and depressed and he pukes up the onigiri from breakfast between takes. His head pounds. Kojiro shakes his head at Kentaro and calls the make-up artist over again. "He's still too green," Kojiro tells her. "He looks like he just crawled out of the gutter. More blush."
She dusts blush all over Kentaro's face. He sighs. He did wake up in a gutter this morning, somewhere in an alley between his apartment and the train station. His cellphone was ringing. This is the Prince of Tennis ringtone was laughing at him.
Kentaro shuffles to the ramen joint after the shoot. Abe and the kitchen staff break out into a cheer. They slide a beer down the counter. Kentaro pops the lid and chugs it. He clanks it down with a heavy sigh.
"All right?" Abe asks. He nods to the cook in the back. Then he brings a steaming bowl and sets it in front of Kentaro. "Extra noodles. On the house, kid."
Kentaro mumbles thanks. He slurps the ramen up slowly. Broth splashes on his t-shirt. Kuma-chan drips with pork juice. Kentaro sinks into his stool.
Then, his cellphone rings. He flips it open. Unnamed caller. Not Kojiro, then. He answers.
"This is Ueshima calling."
Kentaro's shoulders fall lower. He already knows: rejected. He takes a swig of his beer as Ueshima goes on.
"You're no Sengoku-"
Another swig to empty the bottle. With perfect timing, Abe slides a new bottle in front of him.
"-but the casting director wants to see you back in 6 months, Sanada."
Ueshima hangs up. Kentaro stares at the LCD screen. His jaw is somewhere on the floor with his manbag.
"All right?" Abe asks.
Kentaro downs the entire beer in one go. Then he lets out a long, loud belch. He hiccups. "But…Sanada is such a big meanie!"
And he bursts into tears.
Author: Ociwen
Rating: PGish?
Pairing(s): Kentaro/Tenimyu + others
Wordcount: 2300
Summary: All Kentaro ever wanted to do was be a part of Tenimyu.
Disclaimer: No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement of Tenimyu, Konomi, or Ueshima's cracked out mind is intended.
Warnings: the usual splooge of inappropriateness, bad jokes, inside jokes, self-orientalist jokes, offensive to everyone.
Author's notes: For wednesdayschild. Improved version, now with Wawa! Just because we lol at you, Kentaro, doesn't mean we don't love you, you big dork! ;D
When Kentaro announces that he's going to audition for Tenimyu again, Kojiro gives him a funny look: a cocked eyebrow and a slight nod.
"That didn't work out so well for you the first time," he says.
Kentaro prefers not to think about. There was a wicked hangover the morning after Ueshima told him, sorry, you're just not cut out to be Tezuka. Tezuka isn't careless enough to trip over the director's chair.
He had been dancing, but Ueshima clearly didn't understand. The chair jumped out at Kentaro. He was so in the moment channelling Tezuka's serious face that he forgot about things like balance, especially with a racket in his hand.
"You're too…flakey," Kojiro says.
This time, he knows he'll get the part. Kentaro takes himself to Book Off. He buys the entire Tenipuri series-even the new volumes, with the mean Rikkai team. Then he heads to Familymart for a dozen onigiris and he camps out in his apartment, on the floor, and reads the mangas cover to cover. He makes a list in his head of his favourite characters. Sengoku is flakey, just like him. Sengoku is happy, just like him.
Even Wawa gets in the mood. She curls up on the floor next to his hip, purring.
Kentaro slams the last volume closed. He grins to himself. He stands up to get a beer from the fridge, and he trips over the pile of comics. Headfirst, he plows into the door of his built-in closet.
"Ow," he mumbles.
Maybe Tezuka wasn't for him.
But Sengoku can be!
He grabs the can of beer, his manbag, and runs out the door. The elevator gets down to the fourth floor before Kentaro realizes that: a) he's not wearing any shoes and b) he's not wearing a shirt. A university-aged girl who lives in the building looks up and down his chest. She winks at him. Kentaro laughs awkwardly.
"You goin' somewhere?" she asks. She hides a giggle behind her hand. The elevator beeps for the ground floor. She starts to leave when Kentaro presses the button for the eighth again.
"Back home," he says.
She rolls her eyes. "Retard," she grumbles. She dashes out, just as the doors close.
***
The ramen joint is run buy a fellow named Abe. He slides another beer down the counter. "For the tall one!"
Kentaro cheers. He downs the beer in three gulps. He can't see straight and ramen noodles hang off the edge of his bowl. His cellphone rings in his pocket. He whips it out by the third cord of This is the Prince of Tennis.
"Where are you?"
Kentaro laughs. "Kojiro!"
"You have a photoshoot in twenty minutes."
Kentaro blinks. "Oops."
"Just…get your ass over here immediately."
Kentaro hops off the bar stool. Abe looks at him, crestfallen. "Gone so soon?"
Kentaro salutes him. "Tomorrow, lunch. I'll be here, or be square."
The kitchen team all cheer as he leaves. Kentaro grins. He staggers to the station and nearly walks into three salarymen. He tries to apologize, but his words get all mixed up. So he smiles instead.
Kojiro is waiting outside the west exit when Kentaro gets off the monorail on Odaiba. He sniffs the air. Kentaro keeps smiling.
Kojiro shakes his head. "Try to look serious," he says. "Give me your model face."
Kentaro wipes the smile off with the back of his head. He whips his head around to the right, and pouts. Kojiro grabs him by the chin. "More angle this way," he says. "And more serious. You look like you're plastered."
Kentaro narrows his eyes.
"Better. Not too Chinese."
He opens them a little wider.
"That'll have to do," Kojiro mumbles. Then his cellphone goes off. He walks away with his phone to his ear as the stylists come over and play with Kentaro's hair. They pop his collar and tell him to unbutton his shirt a little lower. They prod and poke until he's half-undressed in front of the building façade, pouting and angling and doing his best serious face. Kentaro feels a bit like the big meanie Sanada in Tenipuri.
And he doesn't like it.
Auditions for Tenimyu are tomorrow afternoon. He thinks about that and turns when the photographer asks. He changes his poses and pouts more until his face hurts and his cheeks are sucked in.
After, Kojiro tells him to spend tomorrow at an onsen. "Another photoshoot on Friday, this time with GAP. You need to look good, not like a drunk moron."
Kentaro nods. "Sure thing!" He salutes Kojiro and skips off to Odaiba Station. He hums This is the Prince of Tennis under his breath as he pays for the 6 pack of Asahi at Sunkus. He sings to himself on the monoral. He sings to himself as he waits for the train at Shinagawa. He taps his foot and bops his head. Another guy waiting on the platform nearby-a little younger, stumpy legs and a Korean face-mouths "Retard" to himself. Kentaro doesn't care.
Tomorrow, he's going to ace his audition!
***
He's so excited, he wakes up before the street cleaners. He's so excited, he vibrates. Sorta like his phone. Message from Kojiro: Don't be a moron today-GAP tomorrow!
Kentaro chows down four ongiri on the train to the auditions. He flips through his manga until the pages fall to the floor and an OL steps on them with her stilettos. He practices his "Lu-ucky!"s with an elementary school student. The kid picks his nose. Kentaro grins and says, "Rucki!" The kid holds out a booger on his index.
Kentaro says no thanks.
He double-checks the auditions address on his cellphone. Still the same place as 6 months ago. Dress code: audition. His sneakers squeak as he skips up the steps to the building. There are other guys around, all in sweats and sneakers like him. But none of the rest of them have a t-shirt on that says IRISH EYES SMILING, with a red-haired little man on them. Kentaro thinks it's the sort of thing Sengoku would wear. He says, "Rucki!" to himself, takes a deep breath, and pushes the door open.
Ueshima hasn’t changed. He sits on a chair on the far side of the room, with a cigarette dangling from his lips. Kentaro joins the line of audition-ees against the wall. He towers over them by a good foot.
"Extra tall, for an extra special boy," his mom would say. Kentaro nods to himself with a grin. The guy next to him, who has buck teeth and a sort of half-Japanese roundness to his eyes, asks if he's okay.
"I'm more than okay!" Kentaro says. "I'm so excited!"
The guy laughs a little. He grins back, but takes a step away. Kentaro hums under his breath. The line snakes ahead slowly. Some of the guys are really good dancers. They twirl and plié. They line dance, and tap-dance. Some of the guys are good singers. They hit high notes. They bellow low notes. Ueshima waves them away and lights another cigarettes. Kentaro continues to bop along to his mental music until his name is called.
Ueshima gives him the same look Kojiro did. "You're back again?"
Kentaro nods.
Ueshima sighs heavily. "Let's see it, then," he says.
Kentaro takes a deep breath. He gives it his all. He skips and prances. He flails his arms and says his best "RU-UCKI~!" yet. He waggles his eyebrows, and he wiggles his ears. He starts to sing "YOU KNOW? aitsu ga TENNIS no tensai shounen-"
"That's enough. That's enough!" Ueshima waves his hand. Kentaro falters. His heart skips a beat. Ueshima looks at his cast director, who leans in close to whisper something. Kentaro leans forward onto his toes.
"Thanks, but you're not our Sengoku."
Kentaro's heart sinks to the ground. It takes all his bench-pressing strength to keep his lip stiff and his face serious. All he can manage is a grunt of thanks. Then he stomps out-he means to walk out, but he just wants to get away. He can hear Ueshima and the cast director talking about him stomping away, oh he's so serious there, did you see that little glare he gave us? Yep, definitely not Sengoku. Yuuki Jutta-san, you're next!
In the lobby, Kentaro slumps against a wall. There's a message from Kojiro on his cellphone, but he can't bring himself to open it. His dreams have been crushed. He walks to go home, curl up in a rice paddy in Yamaguchi, and have a long, long drink. Other rejects mill around. Some talk. Some just grab their duffel bags and leave. Others ask if anyone wants to grab ramen.
"Count me in!" A chubby guy waddles past Kentaro. Another half-Japanese. Kentaro looks at him.
"Yeah, me too," the guy says. "Ueshima says I need to lose a few, then he'll call me back. Maybe I can make it as Yukimura, or Saeki, ne?" The guy laughs a little. His eyes are black holes of anguish and his double chin jiggles as he grimaces.
Kentaro slumps lower to the floor. His chin wobbles the more he thinks about. His eyes sting. His hands shake and then he's running to the toilets. He locks himself in a stall and lets out a sniffle-or five-into a wad of toilet paper. No Tenimyu, no life. Who cares about the GAP shoot tomorrow? He starts to cry again.
Then there are footsteps in the bathroom.
"Er…hello?" a voice asks.
Kentaro snorts up slimy, tear-streaked mucus. He bites his tongue, but he sniffles again. There's a knock on his stall.
"Are you okay?" the voice asks.
Kentaro opens the door a crack. It's the buck-toothed guy from before. He offers Kentaro a pack of freeter Kleenex without a word. Kentaro accepts them, and closes the door. He slinks out when he's decent. A few splashes of cold water to his face, and it almost hides the red eyes staring back in the mirror.
"You almost look like Kirihara," the buck-toothed halfie says.
Kentaro scowls.
The guy laughs. He points. "And you looked like Sanada just then. lols!"
Kentaro scowls even more. The guy stops laughing and says he's sorry.
"I didn't make it either," he says. He holds out his hand to introduce himself, but a scream rips through the air and cuts him off. It's high-pitched, bloodcurdling, and coming from the lobby.
They both run out to see.
In the middle of the lobby, another audition-ee runs circles, screaming like a banshee. He's half Kentaro's size, and dressed in Sengoku cosplay, complete with a ginger wig. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he howls. His throws his head back and starts to laugh hysterically. Kentaro shivers and hides behind the buck-toothed guy. The cosplayer screams, "I NEED TO BE IN TENIMYU! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!"
The buck-toothed guy whispers to Kentaro, "He's been at every audition I've been to. He even dressed up as Horio and was rejected. Pretty scary, huh?" He nods to the cosplayer, who's on his knees now, scrabbling at the floor. He whips his head around the room, staring at all of the gawkers with bloodshot eyes.
"Do we need to call the police?" someone asks.
"Or animal control?" someone else offers.
"No," the buck-toothed guy next to Kentaro says. "Call Ueshima."
Everyone stares at him. Even the cosplayer, who pauses his howling for a second. He scratches the back of his wig. "Eh?"
"You could totally pull off Kirihara," the buck-toothed halfie says.
The cosplayer blinks. He forces a little laugh.
The crowd parts and Ueshima saunters through toward the kid. He puffs on his cigarette and flicks the ashes in Kentaro's direction. "You," he says to the cosplayer.
The cosplayer stands up. His knees are scraped and his wig is falling off. He reaches up to rub his eyes, but Ueshima shakes his head. "Come back in 6 months. We want you as Kirihara."
The buck-toothed guy says to Kentaro, "Told you so."
***
He goes to the GAP photoshoot. He's hungover and depressed and he pukes up the onigiri from breakfast between takes. His head pounds. Kojiro shakes his head at Kentaro and calls the make-up artist over again. "He's still too green," Kojiro tells her. "He looks like he just crawled out of the gutter. More blush."
She dusts blush all over Kentaro's face. He sighs. He did wake up in a gutter this morning, somewhere in an alley between his apartment and the train station. His cellphone was ringing. This is the Prince of Tennis ringtone was laughing at him.
Kentaro shuffles to the ramen joint after the shoot. Abe and the kitchen staff break out into a cheer. They slide a beer down the counter. Kentaro pops the lid and chugs it. He clanks it down with a heavy sigh.
"All right?" Abe asks. He nods to the cook in the back. Then he brings a steaming bowl and sets it in front of Kentaro. "Extra noodles. On the house, kid."
Kentaro mumbles thanks. He slurps the ramen up slowly. Broth splashes on his t-shirt. Kuma-chan drips with pork juice. Kentaro sinks into his stool.
Then, his cellphone rings. He flips it open. Unnamed caller. Not Kojiro, then. He answers.
"This is Ueshima calling."
Kentaro's shoulders fall lower. He already knows: rejected. He takes a swig of his beer as Ueshima goes on.
"You're no Sengoku-"
Another swig to empty the bottle. With perfect timing, Abe slides a new bottle in front of him.
"-but the casting director wants to see you back in 6 months, Sanada."
Ueshima hangs up. Kentaro stares at the LCD screen. His jaw is somewhere on the floor with his manbag.
"All right?" Abe asks.
Kentaro downs the entire beer in one go. Then he lets out a long, loud belch. He hiccups. "But…Sanada is such a big meanie!"
And he bursts into tears.