Banri Settsu/The Garden that Bounded the Four Seasons

The Courtyard’s Time Capsule: Autumn

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2Part 3

Izumi	Alright then, let’s wrap up the practices here.
	Let’s start the meeting from here. Banri-kun, if you will.
Banri	Aight, do you guys have anything to comment on today’s rehearsals?
Juza	About that performance just now, I can’t seem to understand how it’s supposed to be interpreted.
Banri	Huh? You’re the one who said you’re going to put it on hold and think on it more for next time. Make up your mind.
	All in all, your acting always comes off too strong every time. It feels like someone forced me a serving of undiluted and fully-concentrated mentsuyu. You gotta even it out.
Juza	What’s that?! No one’s gonna want extremely washed down acting that you give out either. It’s gonna have no flavor to it. Keep that to yourself.
Banri	You wanna go now?!
Azami	This is gonna take us a while again, won’t it.
Sakyo	ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU! We’ve gone thru this discussion already!
Omi	How about we sleep it off for the night? We might understand it differently if we look at it with a fresh mind.
Taichi	Yeah you guys! It’s almost dinnertime too, after all.
Izumi	Oh, that’s right. Taichi-kun, you said there’s something you wanted to bring up?
Taichi	Oh yeah! I’ve got an announcement from the Time Capsule Executive Committee!
Azami	“Time Capsule Executive Committee…?”
Banri	We talked about burying a time capsule in the previous leaders’ meeting.
	The Time Capsule Executive Committee is composed of the four guys who came up with the idea.
Taichi	Basically one of us from each troupe.
	After burying the time capsule in the courtyard, we plan to dig it up again ten years from now.
	Each of the troupe can bury their own capsule, once everyone decides on their items to fill in…
	But the sooner we can bury it, the sooner we can dig it up. If we don’t decide on a deadline, we won’t be able to finish deciding at all! So we need to settle on what to bury by next week!
Sakyo	Just another of these kinds of projects, huh…
Omi	Won’t it be nice to have some memorabilia, though? I’d also better capture the moments of us before burying and after we dig it up too.
Juza	What kinda stuff would be good for a time capsule?
Taichi	Anything’s good! Though it’d be better if it’s not too big ‘cuz it might be hard to bury.
Banri	Planning to put in some food? It’s just gonna rot, y’know.
Juza	Yeah, I know.
Omi	Since we’ll be digging it up a decade from now, it’d be good to use an item that means something deep to you.
Juza	Something deep…
Taichi	Exactly. ten years from now, we won’t be able to remember every little detail of our lives now, won’t we?
	That’s why it’s gotta be something that holds as a token of your daily life of today so that you can remember it well even after ten years.
Juza	Sounds difficult to think about…
Azami	It’s fine to not think too hard about it, isn’t it? Just something to make a memento out of.
Sakyo	So something that you can look back on after ten years have passed on, huh. Well, ten years will pass by in a flash for someone like me.
Izumi	They do say that the older you get, the faster the years go by…
Azami	And the more wrinkles you get…
Sakyo	Shut it!
Taichi	Okay, so once you guys decide on our stuff, report back to me! I’ll be waiting.
Banri	(Speaking of, I don’t have anything that comes to mind, either. Well, I still got until next week to think about it.)

Taichi	Ah, there he is! Ban-chan!
Banri	Yeah?
Taichi	You decided what you’ll bury for the time capsule yet?
Banri	Huh? Is it already the deadline?
Taichi	It sure is!
Banri	I… never came up with anything.
Taichi	Eeh?! You’re the only one who hasn’t decided on anything, y’know!
Banri	Agh, for real? Even Hyodo has submitted something? What did he even go with?
Taichi	Can’t say anything until the actual day we bury it! It’s more interesting to keep it a secret for now, after all.
	If I were to give a hint though, everyone ended up choosing flat objects for their items.
Banri	What kind of flat objects are we even talking about here…
Taichi	What are you gonna do then, Ban-chan?
Banri	Hmm…… There’s really nothing that’s coming to mind.
Taichi	Really!? Then, as part of the Time Capsule Executive Committee, I’ll lend you a hand and we can think of something together.
	Oh, by the way, the Winter and Summer Troupes have already buried theirs.
Banri	Already? That’s fast of them.
Taichi	Summer Troupe decided to bury items that were deep and emotional for them, and I hear Hisoka-san buried an empty bag of his favorite kind of marshmallows.
Banri	(Burying the package of your favorite item… That sounds fitting to bury, so maybe I’ll do something like what Hisoka-san did.)
Taichi	Oh, also! There’s this.
Banri	What’s this?
Taichi	A voice recorder.
	You can cram it in any messages that you wanna record into it— It’s pretty much staple for time capsules, y’know.
	I thought if I couldn’t come up with anything myself, I’d use this instead, so I went and bought this from a second-hand shop at a super cheap price.
	I ended up with something else though, so I figured I could give it away to you instead!
Banri	This thing’s so worn out, is it even gonna work ten years from now? Well, I don’t have anything else to settle with, so I might as well use it.
Taichi	What kind of message are you gonna leave!?
Banri	Who knows. It’s more interesting to keep it a secret for now, right?
Banri	…....
	A message for ten years from now, huh….
	(What would be good to record…)
Izumi	Oh, what are looking at there, Banri-kun?
Banri	A voice recorder for the time capsule. Got it from Taichi.
Izumi	Ohh, I see. So you’ll be burying a recorded message, then?
Banri	That’s the plan, but trying to think of what to say that’ll be good for the next decade is not that easy for me.
Izumi	… That reminds me, back when Summer Troupe went on that treasure hunt for Hakkaku-san’s buried treasure—
	There was a message from Hakkaku-san that was left with it.
	In that audio recording, you could hear the voices of everyone from the troupe. It really felt like you were taken back to their time.
Banri	…Ahh, I see, I see.
Izumi	Were you able to come up with something?
Banri	Sure did. You saved my skin, thanks, Director-chan.

Banri	…Then let’s finish up practice here.
Taichi	After this, let’s all gather up in the garden after we collect our items to bury for the time capsule!
Sakyo	So we’re doing that today, huh.
Omi	Roger that.
Taichi	See you guys there then.
Banri	…..
	…Okay, looks like it recorded just fine.
Taichi	This looks like a good enough hole.
	Okay then! I’d like for everyone to put your items in the middle of this spot.
Azami	I’ll start first, then.
Sakyo	A binder folder? Is it photos of your make-up work?
Azami	Nah, it’s the candid shots of everyone where they’d occasionally smile in the middle of my experimental make-up trials.
	It’s got some rough and failed works in it, but I figured it could reach out to the future me who would find inspiration in even rough works like these.
Omi	I see. That’s a pretty interesting idea.
Taichi	I'm excited to see what your future self will feel about it.
Juza	Mine’s this.
Omi	A piece of paper?
Juza	It’s a list of all the current challenges that I have as an actor.
	I’m hoping that the me ten years from now will be able to clear them all by the time it’s dug up.
Sakyo	That’s just like you, Hyodo.
Omi	So straightforward.
Sakyo	I got this for me.
Banri	What exactly is that?
Sakyo	A transcription of the troupe’s account book.
	If this troupe is still running even ten years from now, then maybe the finances of this place would be much better than it is now… That’s what I hope, at least.
	I’d imagine it’d be really impressive to see the hard work that was put into our present.
Omi	Uhm, how do I put this into words. Good work, I guess…?
Taichi	And what if nothing changes even after ten years…?
Sakyo	Don’t get discouraged now.
Juza	What about Omi-san?
Omi	Mine is a menu list. I was in charge of the dinner meals last month so I complied it all in one place.
	Things like how to make these dishes, for who these dishes were made for. I think it’d be a profound memory for me.
	You could say it’s similar to Sakyo-san’s thought process in choosing his.
Taichi	But the sentiments in it are still pretty different!
Azami	Sakyo’s got no sense of imagination.
Banri	What about you, Taichi?
Taichi	A bunch of print photos!
Omi	All in that bag? It looks pretty packed.
Taichi	It’s got photos that I took from my O-High days, and photos I took with others from Yosei— Oh, and this one I took from the time me and A-chan when to eat ramen together!
	I put together as much print photos as I could! Although, I don’t even know if print photo booths will even be a thing in ten years!
Azami	That’s true, it sounds like something only this gen would be into.
Taichi	Last but not least, Ban-chan!
Banri	I couldn’t really come up with anything myself, so I got this idea from Taichi instead.
Sakyo	A voice recorder, huh.
Taichi	Oh so did you record yourself an emotional message to send for the future!?
Banri	Nope, I recorded this instead.
	[recording plays]
Banri	—And I’m telling you, you need to act this scene out in this way. Else it won’t fit right.
Juza	No, if the role’s state of mind is like that, then it’s gotta be this way.
Banri	We just rehearsed this last time! We’ve been through this conversation over and over already!
Juza	And like I’m saying, it’d be better to perform it in this way instead.
	It was decided that I would take the lead for this part here. You’re the one who has to match up.
Banri	Huuuuh!? Who has to follow who now!?
Azami	This again… You guys sure love this scene, don’t you.
Omi	Now now, it’s not so bad to go over and discuss the scene one more time, right?
Taichi	It’s good to go through a bunch of trial and error until something clicks!
Juza	Just follow up with my lead already.
Banri	Like hell I will!! Why would I ever go along with some ham actor’s—
Sakyo	ENOUGH! We JUST said to go over it again so listen to what people are saying!
	[recording ends]
Juza	What the… Since when did you start recording this?
Banri	I recorded it right as you started doing your ham acting, duh.
Juza	Don’t just record other people without warning.
Taichi	You even caught Sakyo-nii’s fit of anger too.
Omi	Doing video recordings of the performance or inste-lives makes it easy to watch, but somehow it’s refreshing to imagine the scene of our usual rehearsals like this.
Azami	It’d really be like digging up a diary of the present if this were to be dug up someday.
Juza	Though someone should be asking for permission first beforehand.
Banri	Whether I do or not, your ham acting is still ham acting all the same. Doesn’t make much diff.
Juza	You saying something?
Sakyo	I can’t wait for the day these two would become decent adults ten years from now.
Azami	You won’t be able to scream as loud as you do now by that time either. You’d be an old man for real.
Sakyo	You really gonna keep treating your elders like that!?
Taichi	I’ve got a feeling nothing much will change even in ten years' time.
Omi	Sounds about right.

Dita