Chikage Utsuki/Journey of Blooming

one early morning

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Citron	Moss~! A draft, please!
Itaru	Boss, you mean. Also, I'll have a draft, too.
Chikage	Then three drafts.
Server	——Thank you for waiting. Here's your draft beer!
Itaru	Alrighty then, GW today, too~. Cheers.
Chikage	Cheers.
Citron	Cheersies!
Itaru	The Spring Troupe's already on its third year... Way too fast.
Chikage	It feels like the sixth performances will start up before we know it.
Citron	Before the sixth performances happen, we have to power up as the Spring Troupe even more!
	Let's have morning practice for the first time in a while!
Itaru	Urk, morning practice...
	Powering up the Spring Troupe is fine, but morning practice is a little...
Citron	Then let's decide based on majority! Chikage, what's your vote?
Chikage	Me? ... Well, I don't mind.
Itaru	Seriously...
	Ahh, but if we're going to decide on majority, then we have to ask the other three, right?
Chikage	Then let's text them over LIME.
Chikage Utsuki Citron's saying we should have morning practice for the first time in a while, but what do you guys think?
Sakuya That sounds good! I agree!
Tsuzuru It's been a while. I think it's a good idea, too
M.U Not in the morning. Too tired
Citron We'll have the Director come once in a while!
M.U I'll do it
Itaru Chigasaki You're fast at changing your mind as usual lmao
Citron	Hurray! Morning practice is a go!
Itaru	Guess there's no other choice, I'll do my best.
	We've drunk quite a bit.
Citron	I'm going to request the final order pretty soon. This one's perfect!
Itaru	"Today's Final Order Set"?
Chikage	The contents of today's set is... Miso soup and onigiri, apparently.
Citron	I'd like this one, please~!
Server	Yes, today's final order set, is it. Please wait a moment.
Citron	All of the food here was great~. The perfectly right amount of homemade cooking vibes was dog!
Chikage	Good, I think. That sort of mistake is actually pretty difficult to figure out.
Itaru	I just remembered because of the homemade cooking bit, but——What are you two going to do? You know, for Director-san's homemade cooking present thing.
Citron	I'm still thinking~.
Chikage	Me, too.
Itaru	Senpai, you're obviously just gonna make super spicy food. Like super spicy mapo tofu or something.
Citron	It could be super spicy tontonmen!
Chikage	Tantanmen might not be that bad, either. Well, I plan on taking the spiciness into consideration.
Server	Thank you for waiting. Here is today's final order set, miso soup and onigiri.
Citron	It's here! Thanks for the food!
	——Oh~, there are lots of ingredients, and it's really yummy~. I feel warm and fluffy.
Chikage	The broth smells good, too.
Citron	Miso soup that is good for your body and makes your heart feel warm is The Best.
Itaru	That might be an overexaggeration, but well, there probably aren't a lot of people who dislike it. It's Japan's home cooking, after all.
Citron	I heard that miso soup has different flavors and ingredients in different households. What was Itaru's home's miso soup like?
Itaru	Mm, at our house, there was a lot of radishes and seaweed per my mom and sister's preferences, and the flavor was rather mild.
	Thinking about that, the dorm's miso soup has a lot of variation of ingredients and miso. Just what you'd expect from Chef Omi.
Chikage	Huh. I've never thought about it too much, but miso soup is pretty interesting, too.
Citron	Chikage, after your spices, will you be making miso soup next?
Itaru	It seems like you mix a lot of spices together, so this time, you should get into blending miso.
Chikage	Mustard miso, huh——Sounds sour.
Citron	Ohh, so he went in that direction.
Itaru	Now then, we've had our final order, so we should get going soon. The check is...
	Whoa, this restaurant is actually pretty expensive when I take a good look.
Chikage	Since we were talking, we ended up staying for a while, and we drank and ate quite a bit, too.
Itaru	Senpai, thanks for the me~al.
Citron	Thankies for the meal~!
Chikage	You guys sure have some nerve, jeez...

	*click, clack*
Chikage	... It's finally done.
	(This took up more time than I thought it would...)
	If it's this early, I don't think anyone's going to be awake. ... Alright, I guess I'll go home to the dorms.
	——Hm, Director-san?
Izumi	Chikage-san! Good morning.
	Were you working all night?
Chikage	... The truth is, I just happened to reunite with a friend who I haven't seen or heard from in 10 years.
	He fell in love with the daughter of a well-off overseas family and eloped with her—while listening to his dramatic life story, time just flew by.
Izumi	I'd also like to hear some of that story...
Chikage	Haha, another time.
	By the way, why are you awake this early, Director-san?
Izumi	The place I'll be helping out at today is pretty far, and the meet-up time is early.
	I was on my way to make breakfast, but Chikage-san, would you like to join me?
Chikage	Breakfast, huh...
	Alright, let's eat together. ——But, I'll be the one making it.
Izumi	Huh, you're going to?
Chikage	Yeah. Remember? The plan where we all make food for Director-san every day, it's my turn today.
Izumi	Is that so. Okay, then, I'm looking forward to it!
	(Well, having said that... I wonder what he's going to make.)
	(Chikage-san is skillful, so I feel like he could make anything he wanted, but if it turns out to be super spicy food from the first thing in the morning, what am I going to do...)
Chikage	Alright, thanks for waiting.
Izumi	Huh...
	(Miso soup and rice, plus side dishes... It's a pretty simple traditional Japanese meal.)
Chikage	I think it looks pretty good, though?
Izumi	Ah, I'm sorry. I'll start eating now!
Chikage	Go ahead and dig in.
Izumi	(Wow... this miso soup has a really gentle flavor.)
	... This is delicious.
Chikage	Is that so. I'm glad.
	Miso soup is the flavor of Japanese households, and I heard that based on the household and preference, the ingredients and broth are completely different——
	It sounded kind of interesting.
	I thought it might be a bit too simple, but I guess it was perfect for breakfast.
Izumi	But the miso and broth in this, both aren't the ones that we usually use here at the dorms, right?
Chikage	Of course. I ordered some, and I blended some.
Izumi	That's really elaborate... No wonder it's so delicious.
Chikage	Miso soup is plain and simple, but when you try making some, it's surprisingly deep and interesting.
Izumi	(Chikage-san kind of looks like he's having fun.)
	Hehe, just what I'd expect from you. ——But it might be a little surprising.
Chikage	What is?
Izumi	Since you said you were making it, I thought for sure that you'd bring out some super spicy food.
Chikage	I have actually made some spices that would match well with miso soup, so would you like to try putting them in? It might be a bit spicy, though.
Izumi	I am interested, but I can't trust your "a bit" so I'll have to say no.
Chikage	Is that so? Too bad.
CHOICE 1: "It's really delicious" [+] Izumi Your miso soup is really delicious. Its flavor is relaxing. Chikage I'm glad that you enjoy it. ... Hey, Director-san. If you like it, then how about eating my miso soup for breakfast every morning? Izumi Huh—— Chikage Just kidding. That's an old Japanese proposal, right? Izumi Jeez, don't tease me like that! Chikage Haha, sorry. But if you want to eat it again, then just say something. I'll make it for you at anytime.
CHOICE 2: "Eating breakfast as just the two of us is kind of fresh" [+] Izumi Eating breakfast as just the two of us is a bit fresh. Chikage That's true. The atmosphere's quite different from the usual, where everyone's making a ruckus while eating. Izumi Yeah. Of course, it's fun eating together with everyone, but eating breakfast like this is pretty relaxing. Chikage I agree. ... Who would've thought that I'd come to feel spending time alone with you as this comfortable. Izumi —— Chikage Let's eat together every so often. Both breakfast or going out to eat somewhere sound good. Izumi Yes.
	Thank you for the meal. Thanks to your breakfast, I feel like I'll be able to do my best all day!
Chikage	I'm glad to hear that.
Izumi	... The timing is perfect, too. Okay, then, I'll be——Ah!
Chikage	Hm?
Izumi	I forgot to say something very important.
	... Chikage-san, welcome home.
Chikage	——
	Haha, that was quite some lag you had there.
	——I'm home. And, be careful on your way, Director-san.
Izumi	Yes, I'll be going now!
Citron	After we eat breakfast, we'll have morning practice!
Tsuzuru	You have a lot of energy first thing in the morning...
Sakuya	Masumi-kun, it's dangerous if you fall asleep while walking....! Wait, huh? Itaru-san and Chikage-san aren't here?
Chikage	Jeez. Now that I think about it, we did promise to do morning practice.
Izumi	Hehe, it seems like today will be a lively day as well.
Chikage	That's true. ... Well, I guess it isn't so bad.

Kou