2. Reincarnation or Possession? (1)
2. Reincarnation or Possession? (1)
Possession... no, maybe I should call it reincarnation.
It's ambiguous what to call it.
I mean, I thought I was dead, hit by a lighting rig that fell from the stage during a drama script reading...
But when I opened my eyes, I was in the body of a three-year-old child, and I have no idea how to explain this situation. Isn't possession usually into a grown adult's body?
I clenched and unclenched my chubby hand, still baby-fatted, staring blankly at the mirror in front of me. A face completely different from my previous life's.
But for some reason, it felt like a face resembling someone.
'Definitely a face I've seen somewhere before...'
As I tilted my head and wracked my tiny brain, I felt a large hand slipping between my armpits from behind.
Startled by the sudden touch, just as I was about to scream, the hand that had burrowed into my armpits grabbed me and hoisted me up into the air.
Wondering who was picking me up, I flailed for a moment, but the hands holding me familiarly spun me around and guided me into someone's arms.
"Our Miyagi, what are you doing all alone?"
The moment I saw the face of the person smiling at me as if she were the happiest in the world, hugging me close, I instantly realized whose face was reflected in the mirror.
How could I not know? The face of 'Wakayama Kaho,' called the National Actress. Even in my previous life, I had only seen Kaho from afar, but now, after dying, I was seeing it up close.
Moreover, if this situation wasn't what I was mistakenly thinking...
'No way, did I reincarnate as Kaho's daughter? But until the moment I died, Kaho wasn't even married, let alone any dating rumors...?'
That question was resolved before even a day had passed.
While nestled in Kaho's arms watching TV, even if I didn't want to know, I figured out my current situation.
The facts I learned in one day, hugged in Kaho's arms watching TV...
It was about five years after I died.
And Kaho had married her Childhood Friend Manager right after one year following my death, and three years ago, she gave birth to a beautiful daughter.
And the situation where I had possessed...? Reincarnated...? Into Kaho's daughter 'Miyagi's' body was exactly what I was in right now.
Me, an unpopular supporting actress from my previous life who only did bit parts, reincarnated as the daughter of the National Actress Kaho after dying?
'To think something straight out of a web novel would really happen to me...'
I fiddled with my cheek with my small hand to hide the corners of my mouth that were automatically rising. Honestly, it would be weird not to be excited in this situation.
After all, I was reborn as Wakayama Kaho's daughter, of all people.
Who is Wakayama Kaho?
Even people uninterested in dramas or movies would gasp 'Ah, that actress?' upon seeing her face. That's Wakayama Kaho, the actress.
Starting as a child actor at five years old, she had lived her whole life in the acting world, and none of her works ever dropped below two-digit ratings.
Once she appeared in a project, it was guaranteed to be at least a moderate hit.
New actresses win awards every year, but among them, Kaho was the only one who won the Best Actress Award for three consecutive years.
'And the popularity award was four years in a row...'
As the newspapers put it, she was indisputably Japan's top popular actress. And that superstar actress was my mom in this life?
Embarrassing to admit, but I was one of the actresses who entered the industry out of admiration for Kaho. But lacking talent in acting, I was always stuck playing supporting roles.
Still, the reason I didn't give up was because Kaho kept acting. At least, with the hope of landing even a supporting role in one of Kaho's projects, I continued acting...
In this unbelievable reality, I reached out my arm and touched Kaho's cheek. The warmth at my fingertips, the sight before my eyes—everything screamed that the person in front of me was Kaho.
"Is our Miyagi trying to do that? Give Mommy a kiss?"
No, that wasn't my intention...
Flustered by the sudden kiss, Kaho hugged me tightly as if I were the most adorable thing ever. Of course, it was because I was her daughter...
But a stinging sensation pierced my heart like thorns. Was I even allowed to receive this love from Kaho? Right now, I was her daughter, but...
'What if I killed the original personality of this body and took it over?'
That uncomfortable doubt pricked at my conscience.
This love wasn't for me to receive.
I had stolen the love that rightfully belonged to the original Miyagi.
It was the pain born from not being able to definitively say whether what happened to me was reincarnation or possession. At least if memories of my previous life had surfaced from the moment of birth...
'I could have accepted Kaho's maternal love without doubt...'
**
Around four months after my previous life's memories resurfaced.
Living as a three-year-old, I understood the discomfort of the protagonist from that famous detective anime.
'That protagonist got turned into a kid by some drug, right?'
That anime's protagonist had an adult mind in a child's body and had to pretend to be a child to avoid detection.
In a similar situation, I tried my best to emulate that protagonist and act like a three-year-old...
But honestly, it wasn't easy at all.
Observing my friends at daycare, a three-year-old was like a ball that could bounce anywhere.
Crying out of nowhere, laughing out of nowhere, getting mad out of nowhere.
Due to their immature egos, they acted on whatever emotions arose at the moment, making it no easy task to act like a three-year-old.
As a result, I started getting treated as a bit unusual among the daycare teachers.
Mature for a three-year-old, that kind of thing.
Of course, such talk wouldn't escape Kaho's ears. What happens at daycare naturally reaches the parents.
Did she find the suddenly mature child strange?
After that day, Kaho began worrying about me little by little.
Wondering if there was a mental issue, she even met with a counselor and checked my brainwaves. No problems were found, but...
To ease Kaho's worries, I tried hard to act like a three-year-old...
But avoiding detection in front of Kaho was nearly impossible from the start.
She was an actress.
An actress who had started as a child actor and spent her life learning to act. Getting caught by Kaho, who had only done supporting roles like me, was inevitable, in a way?
And what finally nailed down her suspicions was...
When I was three, around the time we appeared together on a parenting variety show.
Even now as an adult, I regret that day over and over.
I shouldn't have told Kaho about going on the broadcast.
I should have just wailed like a normal three-year-old.
'Why did I get greedy for no reason back then...'
Did that completely ruin my relationship with Kaho?
...Back then, I was so thrilled at the idea of appearing on TV with Kaho that I couldn't think straight.
Moreover, appearing on TV at three years old meant Kaho had decided to raise me as an actress.
The younger a child actor, the better to get them on set. For child actors, it's not about money but field experience and 'recognition.'
Making people recognize your face and building the impression of 'Hey, isn't that kid from another show?' through repeated appearances was key.
In other words, Kaho putting her three-year-old me on TV was laying the groundwork for my future entertainment career.
Knowing her intentions, I excitedly participated in the broadcast.
I didn't want to miss this opportunity Kaho had created for me just because I was only three.
But who knew that would be the biggest mistake of my life.
...Even though I knew from my previous life as an actress how production staff viewed 'child actors,' I ended up acting 'not like a child actor.'
For very young child actors, rather than acting, the PD guides their behavior. Making them angry, irritated, or forcing tears.
The PD back then probably wanted to guide my actions too.
He wanted to capture the adorable sight of a dutiful daughter covering her exhausted, sleeping mother with a blanket.
The PD said to me,
"Mommy fell asleep? It'd be nice if Miyagi covered the tired Mommy with a blanket... Can you do it, Miyagi?"
At the PD's direction, I immediately climbed onto the bed where Kaho lay. Struggling up onto the bed, I grabbed the blanket edge and carefully draped it over Kaho's shoulders.
Then, here, I added an ad-lib not in the directions. I wanted to show a dutiful daughter image that viewers would find lovable.
It was embarrassing, but I lightly kissed the sleeping Kaho's cheek. Then, like a cat, I burrowed under the blanket and pretended to fall asleep in Kaho's arms.
...As a result, after the broadcast aired, my recognition definitely rose.
Kaho's daughter is also an adorable child, heating up internet news.
Judging purely by results, that day's actions laid a solid foundation for my acting career.
But my relationship with Kaho...
"...Honey, do you know what Miyagi did to me today? Normally... she says it's embarrassing and wouldn't do it even if she died, but in front of the camera, she 'acted' the most lovable child. It might be my imagination... but lately, something feels... off about Miyagi... It feels like... Miyagi isn't my daughter..."
...Began to shatter, just like that.
"A few months ago... she was a bit strange. The daycare teacher said she suddenly matured... I thought it wasn't true until now... I believed she was just growing a bit faster than others... But now, that child is 'acting' as Miyagi. Someone who's not my daughter is wearing my daughter's face and acting as my daughter."
Not just my relationship with Kaho.
"...Honey, as I kept saying, Miyagi has been imitating someone since a few months ago. Like she's always acting... Why did she suddenly... change so much...? What...? Let's watch a bit more...? It might be my imagination...? But..."
The family's collapse itself began.
"It's been half a year since you told me to watch. So, has Miyagi changed? Huh? You say I'm being sensitive? You think I can't even recognize my own daughter? Miyagi has changed. The Miyagi I love has become someone else! Why can't you, her father, see it...? Do you think I wouldn't notice my daughter, whom I've raised all this time, has been swapped...? Our daughter was replaced without us knowing!!!! How can her dad not know that!!!!"
Because of my foolish action.
"...Yes, fine. Let's divorce. I can't live with you, who can't recognize Miyagi anymore, and that monster anymore. I'm scared, scared. That child isn't the Miyagi I knew. She keeps watching me... acting as Miyagi. Do you even know how creepy that is...?"
Kaho crumbled.
"And after saying divorce, why aren't you taking that monster...? You know too... that's why you're not taking that monster... You're scared too, so you're dumping that monster on me and leaving..."
I absorbed the crumbling Kaho while growing as an actress year by year.
All I could do was follow in Kaho's footsteps and become an actress.
If I got good at acting, maybe I could perfectly act the 'Miyagi' Kaho spoke of? With that thought, I kept learning only acting.
Even if it meant deceiving Kaho then...
That's the only way she might look at me.
With those thoughts, I devoted myself to acting.
I, who in my previous life only played supporting roles with a few lines, achieved the feat of winning the Best Actress Award at seventeen in Miyagi's body.
Thus, I inherited Kaho's title of 'National Actress.'
I can't even describe how happy I was receiving that award. I cried like mad while giving my acceptance speech.
As Kaho's daughter, to receive the Best Actress Award through such effort.
I thought maybe seeing this award, Kaho would acknowledge me a little as her 'daughter.'
That I could follow in your footsteps because I inherited your blood.
That I really am your daughter.
But when I returned home with the award, Kaho looked at the Best Actress Award in my hand, snorted, and said to me,
"You devoured my daughter and now you've devoured me entirely too."
Hearing that, I returned to square one.
"Is there anything more you can take from me?"
Am I really Miyagi?
Or am I still the me from my previous life?