Azami Izumida/Sweet Fruit of Corruption

The Secret Art of Shoe Polishing

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Azami	…
	I really don’t get it…
Citron	Oh!
	Azami, that’s demon’s Gyoza in your smartphone right!
Azuma	Perhaps you mean, demon’s expression?
Citron	That’s it!
Guy	Izumida, something’s wrong?
Azami	Ah, well.
	I’m in the middle of the preparation.
	I will be playing as street children in the upcoming performance and I can’t figure out what role study I should be doing.
Azuma	Street children huh…
	The background for the performance this time will be the industrial revolution right.
	It seems that it was the norm for children to work long hours at that time.
	Why don’t you try thinking about the children’s background from that era for your role study this time?
Citron	I know!
	The homeless child sells match in the middle of the town.
	Do you want some match… Someone please buy from me~…
Guy	Selling ‘macho’?
	Do you train your body and show it off to others.
Azuma	Fufu, he’s talking about the match that you use to lit fire.
Azami	The match seller is a fairytale isn’t it.
	I don’t see anyone selling that way nowadays.
Guy	Then how about doing manual labour in town.
Azami	Manual labour?
Guy	Last time, I saw someone polishing shoes in the corner of the street.
Azuma	Hee, that’s rare.
	But, there used to be people who earns money by polishing shoes on the street.
	It might be hard to do it outside, why don’t you try it within the dorm?
Azami	Shoe polishing huh…
	But I don’t have the tools.
Guy	I have it. If you would like, I’ll lend it to you.
Citron	Guy polish his own shoes after all!
	It’s good to learn what you don’t know from him too!
Guy	If it’s the basic, it’s possible for me to teach you.
Azami	…
Azami	Hee, so shoe polishing requires this kind of tools.
Guy	I will explain to you briefly how to do it.
	You should try it with your own shoes.
Azami	Understood.
Guy	First of all, clean the dirt and dust away with the brush, then use the cleaner to wipe of the finer particles.
Azami	Like this?
Guy	Yeah.
	Apply a bit of cream next, blend it around with the brush.
	This is to nourish the leather.
Azami	Hee.
	It becomes quite glossy now.
Guy	It makes them shine, as well as preventing them from deteriorating.
	It’s also possible to give them complementary colour and gloss by changing the cream.
Azami	I see.
	There are a lot of ways to do this.
Guy	The last step is to take off the excess cream, polish it up, and you’re done.
Azami	There are a lot of steps, but they’re surprisingly simple to do.
Azami	Right, it’s done.
Guy	It’s nice.
Azami	It really becomes beautiful.
Guy	Yeah.
	You feel nicer when you wear beautiful shoes.
Chikage	We’re home.
Itaru	The population density at the entrance is unusually high today.
	What are the two of you doing here?
Guy	I’m teaching Izumida how to polish shoes.
Itaru	Why the shoe polishing?
Azami	It’s a role study for the upcoming performance.
	My role is a street children after all.
Chikage	I see.
Itaru	Shoe polishing from street children huh…
	It’s quite a high difficulty association game.
	But, if that’s the case.
	Should I get my shoes polished right now.
Azami	Ha?
Itaru	I mean, you’re doing your role study right?
Azami	That’s true, but…
Chikage	You’re right, since you’re doing it isn’t it better for you to have a lot of customers. I’ll leave mine in your care too.
Azami	Damn… I guess I have no choice.
Itaru	The shoes are the face of a businessman, so please be careful with them.
Azami	I’m done.
Itaru	Oh, it’s shiny.
Chikage	It seems that you’ve finished it.
	Thank you.
Guy	Izumida does learn quickly.
Azami	…Thank you.

Azami	…Ha, I’m finally done.
Izumi	Eh, Azami-kun.
	You look tired.
Azami	It seems that they heard from Itaru-san that I’m doing shoe polishing, so Kumon and Yuki-san asked me to polish the student group’s shoes.
	Time sure flies fast when you’re concentrating, it’s not so bad looking at the beautifully polished shoes too, so I guess it’s fine.
Izumi	I see.
	It seems that you’re doing well in your role study.
Azami	Since I’m doing it, I’ll polish yours too if you need me to, Director.
Izumi	Is it alright?
	Then, I have a boots that I need to polish, I’ll leave it to you.
Azami	…
Izumi	Hee, amazing, you can see the gloss already.
Azami	It’s hard to do when you stare too much.
	…Too close!
Izumi	Ah, sorry.
	I was just thinking that you’re really serious when you’re polishing it.
Azami	…How to say, shoe polishing is similar to makeup somehow.
Izumi	Makeup?
Azami	You remove the dirt at the beginning, the end product differs depending on how much dirt you remove.
	In makeup too, if you don’t do your skincare properly, it will be difficult to get it on.
	You can also change the cream and wax depending on the colour of the shoes, it’s like choosing the foundation for your skin.
CHOICE 1: “As I thought, you really love makeup" [+] Izumi Even when doing shoe polishing you’re still thinking about makeup, as I thought, Azami-kun, you really love makeup. Azami About that, well… It naturally comes to my mind. Izumi Shoe polishing has a lot of common points with makeup, but I’m glad the role study comes out well for you! Azami Yeah, I’m glad I listen to Azuma-san and the others.
CHOICE 2: “It becomes a surprising discovery" [+] Izumi For shoe polishing and makeup to be quite similar, it turns out to be a surprising discovery. Azami I do want to learn more, things like the combination of base colour and the foundation, the matte feeling, and how to make the gloss appear. Izumi As expected of Azami-kun, you’re thinking about makeup even in the middle of your role study. Azami …Well, shoe polishing is actually quite deep and interesting too. I’ll do what I can.
Izumi	It’s such a spectacular view to see all the shiny shoes lined up like this!
Azami	Yeah.
Sakyo	I’m home.
Sakoda	Excuse me.
Makita	Sorry to bother you.
Azami	Ken-san and Ichirou-san too, what are you doing here?
Makita	Yo, young master.
	Well, just a minor business.
Sakoda	Eh, Azami, are you polishing shoes?
	Amazing!
Azami	Yeah, it’s part of the role study.
	Let me do yours too, Ken-san.
Sakoda	Nah, I wear sneakers after all~
Makita	Then, I’ll leave mine to you, young master.
Azami	Well, it’s fine.
	Stay still.
Makita	But to see the young master polishing shoes, the chairman’s going to laugh when he heard of this.
Azami	It’s going to be troublesome so don’t tell him.
Sakyo	Oh, you’re not half bad.
Azami	…Alright, it’s done.
Sakoda	Azami, amazing!
	It’s so shiny!
Makita	Thank you, young master.
Sakyo	Then, do mine next.
Azami	The shop’s closed.
Sakyo	Ah?
Azami	Even though it’s a role study, I still won’t polish damned Sakyo’s shoes.
	If you really want it, you have to say ‘please’.
Sakyo	Ah? It’s a role study, you can’t choose your costumer.
Azami	It’s my principle not to take in conceited costumers.
Sakoda	Ah! Aniki, please calm down!
	Azami, I’ll also ask this from you.
Azami	Ken-san doesn’t need to lower your head for this damned Sakyo.
	I definitely won’t do it unless the actual person lower his head.
Sakyo	Ah?
Izumi	(So it’s like this in the end…)

Chiaki