| Tenma | Itadakimasu. |
| Taichi | Itadakima~su. |
| Tenma | .... |
| Taichi | .... |
| Tenma | Your eyebags look awful. |
| Taichi | Eh? Really? |
| Tenma | Are you having trouble with practice? |
| Taichi | Nn~, not really, but.... |
| No matter how much I practice, I can’t shake my anxiety, so I end up staying up really late doing all sorts of things. |
| Tenma | You can’t shake your anxiety? |
| Taichi | Yeah... I have no confidence. I want to become an actor who’s worthy of standing next to everyone in Autumn Troupe.... |
| That’s right—Ten-chan, did you notice anything during our comedy training session the other day? Tell me what I did wrong, please! |
| Tenma | ...Sigh. |
| Weren’t you going to “become a greater actor than Sumeragi Tenma”? That’s what you said during Autumn Troupe’s debut performance. |
| If you beat me after I gave you advice on every little thing, would you be satisfied? |
| Taichi | Uu—. |
| ...I’ll do my best on my own. |
| Tenma | Do that. |
| There’s nothing I can say to you in the first place, you know. The rest is up to you. |
| Taichi | Up to me.... |
| |
| Yuzo | Chilong, hold back your movements a little more there. You end up looking like a small fry. |
| Juza | Alright. |
| Yuzo | Yun, put more emotion into your lines. The audience won’t get it. |
| Azami | ...Got it. |
| Yuzo | Guess that’s it for today. |
| Taichi | Thank you very much! |
| Juza | Thank you! |
| Azami | Thank you! |
| Izumi | Then let’s continue tomorrow. |
| Banri | Nice work~. |
| Sakyo | Nice work. |
| Yuzo | Ah, also—hey, Taichi. |
| Taichi | Yessir! |
| Yuzo | Your kung-fu form and line tempo are getting better. That practice is paying off. |
| Taichi | R-really? But I still have so far to go—. |
| Yuzo | That’s the problem. |
| Taichi | Huh? |
| Yuzo | Your lack of confidence shows right through. Even if you try to hide it during a performance, the audience will notice. |
| That’s not Chan’s personality. |
| He’s a reckless, passionate guy who will face down a fierce enemy just to avenge his senior pupil, right? |
| Taichi | .... |
| Yuzo | You’ve practiced this hard; be proud of yourself when you perform. |
| Taichi | Be proud.... |
| Yuzo | Well then, see you. |
| *Door closes* |
| Taichi | .... |
| Izumi | Taichi-kun, Yuzo-san is right. You’re working even harder than usual this time; I think you can be more confident in yourself. |
| Taichi | Y-you’re right! An unconfident Chan wouldn’t look cool! |
| Alright, time to get fired up again~! |
| Izumi | Taichi-kun.... |
| Omi | He’s definitely just putting on a cheery face. |
| Banri | What to do.... |
| Sakyo | This isn’t an issue of his acting skill; it’s about his own feelings. |
| Azami | ...Ah, about that. |
| Izumi | Hm? |
| Azami | Taichi-san told me the other day that he wanted to give back to Autumn Troupe. |
| He wants to make up for the trouble he caused during the debut performance by responding to everyone’s feelings in entrusting him with the lead role. |
| But he also feels small; he wonders if it’s okay for someone like him to play the lead. |
| Juza | That guy.... |
| Banri | He’s still hanging onto that? |
| Azami | If Taichi-san is underestimating himself and thinks he’s unworthy, then don’t we need to make him recognize that he has the right to play the role? |
| Izumi | But what should we do...? |
| Banri | ...Alright. |
| Izumi | ? |
| Banri | Time to teach him a lesson. |
| Izumi | Eeeeh!? |
| |
| Taichi | ...Nn. |
| Yaaawn.... |
| Omi-kun, good morni—huh, he’s not here? |
| Maybe he’s in charge of breakfast.... |
| ...I need to go to morning practice. |
| Sigh.... |
| (Confidence, huh....) |
| |
| Taichi | .... |
| Banri | Oi, Taichi. |
| Taichi | ? |
| Juza | .... |
| Omi | .... |
| Sakyo | .... |
| Azami | .... |
| Taichi | Eh, what’s wrong, guys? |
| Banri | We’re gonna need a few words with you. |
| Taichi | Huh...!? |
| |
| Taichi | Why the theater stage...? And I’m alone, too.... |
| Banri | We’ll be watching from here. |
| Taichi | ??? |
| Banri | We think we know how you felt all this time in Autumn Troupe; we know how you feel about this performance, too. |
| With all that in mind, we believe you’re worthy of playing the lead. |
| ...But that’s not what you think, right? You’re still not satisfied. |
| Taichi | .... |
| Banri | That’s why you should show us all those feelings on stage. |
| Taichi | Eh? What do you mean...? |
| Sakyo | The answer is obvious. |
| Juza | Yeah, it’s what you need to do in times like these. |
| Azami | You set me off during my first performance. Don’t pretend you don’t know what we’re talking about. |
| Izumi | I want to see your portrait again, Taichi-kun—it’s been a while. |
| Taichi | .... |
| Omi | We’ll accept every one of your feelings. |
| Taichi | .... |
| ...Got it. |
| .... |
| “This is a story from before I joined MANKAI Company—.” |
