| Tasuku | Tetsuro-san, what should we do with this? |
| Tsumugi | Please check over here as well. |
| Tetsuro | .... |
| Tasuku | Eh? |
| Tetsuro | .... |
| Tsumugi | Umm.... |
| Tetsuro | .... |
| Izumi | Manager, please! |
| Manager | Yes, yes~! |
| Tetsuro | .... |
| Manager | Ah, I see. Please hang that panel and prop up the other one! |
| Tsumugi | Yes. |
| Tasuku | Like this? |
| Tetsuro | .... |
| Manager | Looks good! |
| Tasuku | We won’t get anywhere without the manager.... |
| |
| Tsumugi | I guess that’s pretty much everything for now. |
| Izumi | Looks perfect! |
| Manager | ...Aaah! |
| Izumi | ? |
| Tsumugi | Is there a problem...? |
| Manager | No, there’s breaking news on the web... The candidates for this year’s Fleur Award were announced. |
| Izumi | Ah, right, it’s that time of year already. |
| Tsumugi | Which troupes were nominated this year? |
| Tasuku | Well, we probably don’t have a chance yet. |
| Manager | Yes... unfortunately, we didn’t make the list. |
| Azuma | GOD-za is there. |
| Tsumugi | Weren’t they nominated last year too? |
| Tasuku | They’ve yet to win the award, but they’ve been nominated a couple times. |
| Homare | It means we still have a lot of work to do. |
| Guy | Fleur award? |
| Tsumugi | It’s the greatest theater award in Japan. They say that even being nominated is a rare honor. |
| Izumi | Our popularity and reviews have been steadily improving, but we still don’t stand a chance against GOD-za. We need to work harder. |
| Tsumugi | You’re right.... |
| Tasuku | We’ll surpass them in no time. |
| |
| Izumi | Let’s do a Phantom of the Opera street act today to advertise our performance. |
| Guy | .... |
| Tsumugi | Guy-san, is something wrong? |
| Guy | Acting as the Phantom in front of a crowd—it makes me a little nervous. |
| Izumi | (He used to keep calm under any circumstances, but now he’s really changed....) |
| (But this Guy-san is much lovelier.) |
| Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it in no time. |
| Tasuku | Just do what you did when we put on a street act together. |
| Azuma | Everyone’s nervous at first. |
| Homare | You just need to get used to it one step at a time. |
| Hisoka | ...We’ll back you up. |
| Guy | Thank you. |
| Izumi | (Everyone is taking favorably to the current Guy-san. They’re coming together as Winter Troupe, too; this is good.) |
| |
| Tsumugi | —and we’re MANKAI Company. |
| Tasuku | Winter Troupe’s fourth performance, “Phantom F and the Opera of Grief.” Please check us out. |
| *Applause* |
| Homare | Thank you. |
| Azuma | Please come to watch us. |
| Guy | .... |
| Izumi | (Guy-san looks really sullen. I guess it’s still hard for him to smile.) |
| How was that, Guy-san? |
| Guy | When I did a street act with Takato before, I think I experienced surprise. I was also a little moved. |
| But I don’t feel that way right now. There’s a cloudy feeling in my chest. |
| Tsumugi | Maybe you’re not satisfied with what you did. |
| Guy | Not satisfied.... I see. You might be right. |
| Izumi | (Guy-san might be getting more ambitious about acting. Wanting to improve is a good development!) |
| Then let’s do it one more time—. |
| Haruto | Here’s a new performance by this year’s Fleur award nominee, GOD-za~! Take a look~! |
| Izumi | ——. |
| GOD-za member | GOD-za’s new performance! Please take a look! |
| Tasuku | Hey, we’re using this space right now. Don’t get in our way. |
| Haruto | ...Huh? You were advertising? You looked so dull that I thought you were passers-by. |
| Guy | ? |
| Homare | Ah, he’s a member of GOD-za. |
| Was it Hato-kun? |
| Tasuku | It’s Yamada. |
| Haruto | You’re both wrong! I’m Asuka Haruto! |
| Azuma | Oh, really? |
| Hisoka | ...I didn’t know that. |
| Haruto | ——. |
| You’re great at pissing me off, as always. |
| ...But this is perfect. This time I’ll put an end to you for sure with an etude battle! |
| Don’t get too full of yourselves. The No. 1 troupe on Veludo Way is GOD-za! |
| Guy | An etude battle? |
| Tsumugi | The rules are as follows: the two teams perform etudes in turn, and the one that wins over more audience members wins. |
| Tasuku | We don’t need to take their bait. |
| Haruto | Hmph, are you afraid of losing? |
| Izumi | (I don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble before our performance....) |
| Passerby A | An etude battle! |
| Passerby B | GOD-za and MANKAI Company? |
| Passerby C | Looks fun! Let’s watch! |
| Tsumugi | We can’t betray our audience. |
| Tasuku | Man, he’s a pain as always. |
| Azuma | Well, there’s not much at stake compared to our debut performance, so I think it’s fine. |
| Homare | Yes. We just have to beat them at their own game. |
| Izumi | All right. We’ll accept the etude battle challenge. |
| Haruto | Well then, we have two members, so it’ll be a two-on-two battle. |
| Izumi | What about the theme? |
| Haruto | That’s right.... |
| Reni | ...Oh, your fourth performance is going to be The Phantom of the Opera? |
| Tasuku | —Kamikizaka-san. |
| Guy | ...? |
| Azuma | What’s wrong? |
| Guy | No... Who is that? |
| Azuma | He’s the leader of GOD-za. Kamikizaka Reni-san. |
| Guy | .... |
| Haruto | The Opera? You’re going to do the Phantom of the Opera again? |
| Tasuku | Yeah. |
| Reni | Our Phantom of the Opera—featuring Tasuku as Raoul and Haruto as the Phantom—was quite popular. |
| Tasuku | .... |
| Haruto | Perfect. Let’s make this etude battle Phantom & Raoul, then. That’ll make it easier for you. |
| Guy | ...So I’m going to perform. |
| Homare | Facing off with GOD-za in your first etude battle is a rather heavy responsibility. |
| Tsumugi | Just act as you always do, Guy-san. |
| Tasuku | I’ll lead you along. |
| Guy | ...All right. |
| Azuma | Good luck. |
| |
| Haruto | —and that’s all! |
| *Applause* |
| Passerby A | Cute! |
| Passerby B | I’ve never seen a Phantom like that! |
| Izumi | ——. |
| (GOD-za got more applause....) |
| Haruto | Hmph. Looks like this battle’s over. |
| Izumi | (Their Phantom was very expressive and had a unique character; he drew the audience’s eye.) |
| (Guy-san’s Phantom is still a little awkward in comparison....) |
| Reni | His looks and movements aren’t bad, but.... His acting isn’t convincing at all. This lead will put the classic to waste. |
| Izumi | ——. |
| Reni | I hear MANKAI Company has been training its new members, but we’re in the midst of raising our rookies too. |
| Why don’t we do a duel act for their unveiling? |
| Haruto | Be prepared. I’ll be the top actor when that time comes—. |
| Reni | We’re leaving, Haruto. |
| Haruto | Ah, wait for me! |
| Guy | .... |
| Homare | ...That was a rather tough battle. |
| Tasuku | There was nothing we could do. They’re veterans with a lot of stage experience. |
| Guy | ...I know what this feeling is. I’m frustrated. |
| Izumi | Guy-san.... |
| (It must be especially painful for him because the theme was the same as our next performance’s. That might be why GOD-za chose it, but....) |
| Tsumugi | We should drink together after this. |
| Izumi | Eh? |
| Tsumugi | Starting tomorrow, we need to practice harder to make our performance even better. |
| Tasuku | You’re right. |
| Hisoka | ...But why alcohol? |
| Azuma | Times like this are when we should drink and have fun so we can change our mindset, right? |
| Guy | Isn’t it better to practice? |
| Azuma | You’ll understand when you come with us. |
| Izumi | You’re right! Let’s drink to our heart’s content today! |
