Banri Settsu/Banquet of Blooming

Starring "Banri"

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Taichi	Tomorrow’s the day! The screening event and talk show for Picaresque!
Sakyo	Make sure to review what topics to bring up during the talk show.
Banri	Don’t sweat ‘bout it.
Sakyo	Are you sure you’ve got it in your head? To ensure our guests enjoy their time, you’d best do this and that and——
Azami	Aaaand he’s started again. Can’t the old man just zip it.
Sakyo	I hear you loud and clear, bon.
Taichi	Juza-san, are you all prepared for tomorrow too?
Juza	… Yeah.
Banri	As if Hyodo has anything going through his head.
Juza	Haa?
Omi	Alright, alright. Don’t start fighting, it’s time for dinner.
Taichi	Woahhhh, this smells amazing~!
Sakyo	We’ve got some traditional food tonight, huh?
Omi	Correct. There’s dessert for later too, of course.
Juza	Dessert… I can’t wait.
Azami	Time to dig in, then.
Banri	Thanks for the food~
Sakyo	It’s been a while since I’ve walked through the backstage wing with this outfit on.
Banri	You don’t look any different from your usual self though.
Sakyo	And what do you mean by that?
Juza	But it does look cool on you.
Sakyo	Oi, Settsu. Don’t forget: you have to get your picture taken after we’re done with the talk show.
Banri	I get it, I get it… Geez, just how many times are ya gonna tell me ‘bout that. And yes, it’s the instant camera kind, I know.
Sakyo	You sayin’ something?
Banri	Nothiiiing.
Izumi	It’s almost time for the talk show to start.
Juza	‘Kay.
Banri	Let’s get to it then.
Banri	Lasting impressions from doing the Picaresque’s run, huh? Lemme think…..
Juza	Getting handcuffed to you was the worst thing ‘bout that.
Banri	Hah. I’ll say.
Sakyo	You two only have yourselves to blame for THAT.
Banri & Juza	…….
Banri	…’Nyway, that stuff doesn’t matter. If we’re talkin’ ‘bout the show itself though, y’sure you guys don’t got anything in mind?
Sakyo	Let me think… Ah right. At the beginning, Settsu kept putting off his meals at a later time.
Banri	That’s got nothing to do with the show either….
Juza	Pretty sure he said something ‘bout not being used to eating together with a lot of people on the same table.
Sakyo	And because he kept postponing his mealtime, Fushimi kept having to ask the other members to call him over to eat.
Juza	But since you barely showed your face during that phase, we still got to eat our meals in peace.
Banri	Excuse me? It’s a lot quieter whenever you aren’t around, y’know!
Sakyo	But now, he’s gotten used to eating together with everyone. I suppose you’ll never know how much a person can change.
	So. We’re all going to have our meal together again tomorrow, alright?
Banri	——Forced to, okay? I was forced to get used to it.
Audience	… So cute…
Banri	Alright, which one of you just called me "cute"!?
Audience	…Ahaha!!

Sakyo	We wrapped up the talk show without a hitch either.
Banri	If you don’t count all the times you made it off-topic to the performance, geez…
Izumi	But it seemed like the guests were really glad they got to see a bunch of those new sides of you, Banri-kun.
	Now then, shall we get to taking a picture of you so we can distribute it as a present for the visitors?
Banri	Sure sure.
	*SHUTTER CLICKS*
Izumi	Alright, that’s good!
	What do you think? I feel like I got a good shot of you.
Juza	That’s one questionable expression.
Sakyo	The face behind the expression was already plenty questionable.
Banri	HEY!
	*CAR REVS*
Izumi	Mm….
	(...!? Wh-Why am I riding in car— An overspeeding one at that! …J-Just what the heck is happening!?)
???	You finally comin' to?
Izumi	(—!! Banri-kun!? But he’s wearing an outfit. Is this one of those dreams I’ve been having recently where I keep meeting everyone’s lead characters…)
	(If that’s the case, this guy’s not Banri-kun, but Luciano himself. Which also means…)
	Don’t tell me— are you being chased…?
Luciano	Look at Miss Detective here! That saves me from explaining! … Look out.
	*CAR SCREECHES*
Izumi	W-Wah!
Luciano	At first, I was just gonna pick ya up when I saw ya pass out at the side of the road. I thought maybe you were feelin’ sick or somethin’, so I decided to take ya with me. Least that’s all that was supposed to plan.
	Then a bunch’a stuff happened and here I am being chased.
Izumi	A bunch of stuff, huh.
Luciano	… Yeah, stuff. Hold on.
	*CAR SCREECHES*
Luciano	Phew. Managed to cut them off somehow… Sorry for draggin’ ya into this mess.
Izumi	N-No, it’s okay… I was really worried something was about to happen though. My heart almost couldn’t take it…
	But it seemed like you saved me after I passed out, so I must thank you for that.
Luciano	…Hmm.
Izumi	(...? Why am I being examined so closely?)
	Uhm… Is something wrong?
Luciano	Nah. Just thinkin’ that you’re actually pretty cute, y’know that? This is the first time I got to take a good look at your face.
Izumi	Eh.
Luciano	‘Nyway. Were you supposed to head somewhere? I can drop ya off at your destination.
Izumi	Right, my destination……
Luciano	… You don’t got any?
Izumi	Ahaha…
Luciano	Guess I hit the mark.
	Hmm… Well then. Since it’ll be dangerous to leave ya by yourself, why dontcha come with me for now?
	Though we’re gonna have money-hungry cheapskate as company later.
Izumi	(So he and Lansky are working together at this point… Fufu, I can’t stop myself from smiling after hearing that.)
	(I may not have a destination in mind, but having those two around will be reassuring. It might even be interesting!)
	Well. As long as I won’t be a bother to you guys.
Luciano	Would I even care to ask if you were one?
	But if you don’t trust my words… Then how ‘bout I just whisk you away anyway?
Izumi	Th….There’s no need for that, thank you!!
Izumi	!!
Banri	Woah!?
Izumi	Ah… It’s you, Banri-kun…... Sorry, did I startle you?
	Huh? This blanket…
Banri	I’m the one who put that on ya. Though you managed to make it fly as you jumped like that.
Izumi	Ahaha… I see. Thank you, though.
CHOICE 1: So you came to leave a blanket for me? [+] Izumi So you came to leave a blanket for me? Banri ‘Course. We can’t have our precious Director-chan catching a cold now, can we? Or maybe you wanted to borrow my shoulder to lean on? It’d get you much warmer if we sat together like that after all. Izumi Eh? Banri If it’s a shoulder you want, then your wish is my command… In fact, if you wanna keep sleeping, we can do just that. Here. Izumi I didn’t even say anything!! So I’m all good, thanks!!
CHOICE 2: I must’ve dozed off. [+] Izumi It seems like I just dozed off. Banri Are ya feeling alright? Maybe managing that screening event tuckered you out? Izumi Maybe. The event was just so fun I probably didn’t even realize it myself. Banri Hey, we’d be more than willing to help ya with anything, y’know? You shouldn’t be pushing yourself. Izumi Mh-hmm. Thank you. Banri Though… I did get to see your cute and defenseless sleeping face ‘cause of that. That’s one perk at least. Izumi —!? Oh shut up…!!
Banri	Hahaha!
	But y’know, all that aside… Just what kind of dream did you even see that’d get you jolted awake like that?
Izumi	Uhm… Let’s just say it was a rather interesting dream.
Banri	Really now? How so?
Izumi	My memory of it is already starting to get fuzzy but… It was a dream where I was riding in a runaway car.
Banri	That sure sounds extreme.
	I guess if it’s a dream like that, it wouldn’t be too surprising to be woken up as frantically as that.
Izumi	(Truth is, I actually DO remember about Luciano appearing in the dream…)
	(But just recalling the words he said… It’s too embarrassing for me to even think about! It's best if I just never say a word about Luciano’s appearance ever…)

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