| Azami | A, e, i, u, e, o, a, o. Ka, ke, ki, ku, ke, ko, ka, ko. |
| Izumi | (It’s been a few days since he started practice. His enunciation has gotten a lot better.) |
| (He’s less shy now, and he’s gotten used to saying his lines. Maybe it’s because Banri-kun is a good teacher.) |
| (He’s a confident boy, so I don’t think he’ll have any trouble standing on stage… The only thing left is his one-man act…) |
| |
| Izumi | Let’s take a fifteen-minute break. |
| Taichi | Yes. I’m gonna get my drink. |
| Banri | Ah, can you get mine too? |
| Taichi | Sure thing. |
| Azami | ...Phew. |
| Izumi | Nice work, Azami-kun. How is your one-man act coming along? |
| Azami | ...I’ve gotten something down, but it’s not ten minutes. |
| Izumi | Instead of just reciting it, you should consider your tempo and add pauses and gestures. |
| I think that will change the length of the piece. |
| Azami | ...I’ll give it a go. |
| Sakyo | He’s supposed to handle the one-man act on his own. You don’t need to take care of him. |
| Izumi | Eeh? |
| Azami | ...Shithead Sakyo. |
| Sakyo | Aah? |
| Izumi | (If we’re talking about problems, Sakyo-san is one of them.) |
| ...Banri-kun, Banri-kun, |
| Banri | Huh? |
| Izumi | ...Could you pay a little attention to how his one-man act is going, too? |
| Banri | ...Sigh. Got it. |
| |
| Izumi | ...I’m thinking about these dates for Autumn Troupe’s performance. |
| Sakyo | I think that’s just right. |
| Izumi | Then we’ll go ahead with these plans. |
| Sakyo | Yeah. |
| Izumi | ...I’m looking forward to Azami-kun’s one-man act. |
| Sakyo | He’ll probably come up with a throwaway performance like Settsu did and get lambasted by that man. And that’ll be the end. |
| Izumi | You mean he’s going to make it up? |
| Sakyo | Yeah. Well, I’ll know if he does. |
| Izumi | Do you know about Azami-kun’s childhood? |
| Sakyo | Do I know? ...I pretty much took care of him in place of the chairman, who was always busy. |
| Izumi | I see. Then you might be in his story, Sakyo-san. |
| Sakyo | ...I wonder. |
| He hates me through and through… It’s entirely my own fault, though. |
| Izumi | (When I met the chairman and the members of Ginsenkai, they were all like one big family—I wonder why these two don’t get along?) |
| (Azami-kun looks like he’s attached to Sakoda-san….) |
| (Maybe Sakyo-san and Azami-kun were close like that once….) |
| (Maybe there was a reason their relationship took a turn for the worse….) |
| |
| Azami | “This is my boyhood….” |
| Banri | …. |
| Azami | What is it? |
| Banri | You’re practicing. |
| Azami | ...Well, yeah. |
| Banri | How’s it going? |
| Azami | So-so. |
| Banri | Show me what you’ve got so far. |
| Azami | It’s not done yet. |
| Banri | That’s fine. You wanna get back at that old man, right? |
| Azami | …. |
| Banri | Ready, go. |
| Azami | ...Sigh. |
| |
| Azami | “I’ll keep on living with his words engraved in my heart..." |
| Banri | …. |
| Azami | The end. |
| Banri | ...That was really bad. |
| Azami | Aah!? |
| Banri | Being separated from your best friend—it’s supposed to be an emotional story, but you made it up, right? |
| Azami | ——. |
| Banri | So that’s what it looks like to an audience… I get it. You really can tell. |
| Azami | Huh? |
| Banri | No, it’s nothing. |
| Azami | Who cares if it’s made up. Shithead Sakyo is the only one who will know. |
| Banri | Even if you manage to fool the audience, you definitely won’t fool Director-chan and Yuzo-san. |
| Azami | Why—. |
| Banri | A made-up story doesn’t stand a chance against the real thing. It just comes off as shallow, especially when an inexperienced actor performs it. |
| Well, I really don’t have room to talk, but…. |
| Azami, make some time tomorrow afternoon. |
| Azami | Tomorrow? |
| Banri | I’ll help you come up with a plan. I’ve got something to do, so I can’t stay forever, but. |
| Azami | You don’t need to help me, you know. |
| Banri | If you’re cool with Sakyo-san laughing at you, that’s fine too. |
| Azami | …. |
| Banri | What’ll it be? |
| Azami | ...Got it. |
