Guy/Jasmine’s Passenger Seat

The Scent of Home

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2Part 3

Izumi	(Haah, I’m tired from today…)
	Hm? A LIME from Tsumugi-san.
Tsumugi Tsukioka Director, where are you right now?
Izumi In front of the station. I just got back.
Tsumugi Tsukioka Would you like to come to Guy-san’s bar? Winter’s here.
Izumi	(What timing…! I have no plans tomorrow, so I suppose I could get rid of this tiredness with alcohol!)
Izumi Heading over!
Guy	Welcome.
Izumi	Good evening!
Tasuku	You’re here.
Tsumugi	Good work.
Hisoka	… We were waiting.
Guy	I hope beer is alright, Director.
Izumi	Yep, works for me!
Azuma	I see Tsumugi’s LIME was timely.
Izumi	Yeah, I just got back to Veludo Station and was about to head to the dorms—
	Huh? Is Homare coming?
Tasuku	Arisugawa’s at a publisher’s party.
Azuma	He said he’d come here as soon as it finished.
Izumi	I see.
Tsumugi	I texted you the moment he left the venue, so he should be here any minute…
Homare	I see everyone was waiting for me!
Hisoka	… He’s here.
Tsumugi	Good work, Homare-san.
Azuma	Fufu, speak of the devil.
Tasuku	Can’t you come in with less energy.
Homare	Perhaps everyone’s energies are just too low! Aren’t we drinking!?
Guy	It seems Arisugawa’s already drunk from the party.
Azuma	It’s fun to watch.
Homare	I am not drunk!
Tasuku	The ones who usually are drunk say they aren’t.
Homare	Muu…!
Izumi	Ahaha, I suppose he has a point.
Guy	By the way, Arisugawa. You seem to have some bags, would you like to keep them over here?
Homare	Oh, thank you very much, Guy-san!
	But first, let’s have everyone gaze upon it. Like this bouquet!
Izumi	Waa, it looks gorgeous!
Tsumugi	It’s a beautiful bouquet.
Hisoka	It smells like roses…
Tasuku	Did you get those flowers from the party?
Homare	Mhm! Since it has been decided to reprint a previous published poetry collection, my editor gave these to me.
Azuma	Congratulations. We should toast to it.
Guy	What would you like to drink, Arisugawa?
Homare	Then, a drink with high alcohol content should suffice!
Izumi	Eh, is that okay?
Homare	Isn’t it for celebration!? What else would the protagonist drink!
Tsumugi	Ahaha, I suppose you’re right.
Tasuku	Shouldn’t you say that without laughing, Tsumugi.
Guy	Don’t worry, Takato. It is my bar, I can handle it.
Tasuku	Jeez… Just keep it moderate.
Izumi	Ah, we all have glasses! Well then…
Everyone	Cheers!

Homare	Zzz… Zzzz…
Hisoka	Zzzz…
Tsumugi	Looks like it’s time to go home~...
Izumi	Neither of them are gonna wake up any time soon.
Azuma	Tasuku’s our only hope to bring them home.
Tasuku	Don’t say such ridiculous things. Honestly, these two…
Azuma	Fufu, I’m kidding.
Tsumugi	Moreover… We have to help clean.
Guy	It’s no problem. Thanks to everyone’s carefulness, I have little to clean.
	All that’s left is to close the store, so everyone can head home now.
	But I suppose if these two don’t wake up, you can leave them here…
Tasuku	No, we’ll take them home.
Azuma	Guy hasn’t drank enough yet, I’ll be waiting at the dorms with some sake.
Guy	Thank you.
Izumi	You’re gonna drink more!?
Tasuku	Look at Arisugawa and Mikage.
Homare	Hnn… beef tongue for dinner in reprint… unnecessary.
Hisoka	Still sleepy…
Tsumugi	Well then Guy-san, we’ll be waiting at the dorms.
Guy	Yes. Please be careful on your way home, everyone.
Izumi	Be careful too, Guy-san.
Guy	Now, time to close up.
	Hm? That flower—
	(I forgot to return it to Arisugawa. I suppose I’ll bring it to him at the dorms.)
	…
Clerk	Then, I’ll get back to you in a second, please look around while you wait.
Izumi	Yes, thank you very much!
	(This flower shop is good, after all. All of the flowers are so beautiful—)
Guy	… Director?
Izumi	Eh? Guy-san?
Guy	I didn’t expect to meet you in this place by chance.
Izumi	Me too! I’m rather surprised.
Guy	Why is Director here?
Izumi	Since a friend of mine has a performance, I was thinking of getting flowers for them. What about Guy-san?
Guy	… I decided to decorate the shop with flowers.
Izumi	I see… I can’t really imagine Guy-san’s shop decorated in flowers.
Guy	The other day, I was examining the bouquet that Arisugawa left behind—
	I concluded decorating the shop with flowers would be nice.
Izumi	That’s a good idea! It’ll make the shop look lovely.
Guy	Yes. However…
Izumi	What’s wrong?
Guy	I can’t decide on a flower. The longer I searched, the more I couldn’t decide.
Izumi	Ahh, I understand! To think it’d stump you like this.
Guy	… Since we met here. If you’d like, Director can choose.

Izumi	Eh? Is that okay? I would think Guy-san is more familiar with flowers…
Guy	It’s alright. Go ahead.
Izumi	… Got it!
	Hmm… But when deciding things, it’s kinda hard.
	The flowers in Homare-san’s bouquet of roses were beautiful, and Chinese bellflowers look nice and all but…
	… But that’s right, this flower looks great on Guy-san!
Guy	… Jasmine?
Izumi	These pretty jasmine flowers seem to fit Guy-san’s vibes—
	Plus, the jasmine tea that Guy-san makes is so delicious!
Guy	…!
	… Is that so? In that case, this flower it is.
Izumi	Guy-san came by car.
Guy	I was also shopping for ingredients.
Izumi	How convenient. Thank you!
Guy	Of course. We’re close to the dorms.
	And Director. Did you happen to have plans after this?
Izumi	Eh? Not anything in particular…
Guy	Then, there is a place I wish to take you.
Izumi	The place you wanted to take me… was Guy-san’s bar?
Guy	Yes. I wanted to thank you for choosing the flowers.
Izumi	It’s not that big of a deal—
Guy	Please wait here.
	Sorry for the wait.
Izumi	This is… jasmine tea?
Guy	The leaves arrived from Zahra fairly recently.
Izumi	This smell…! Did you have to thank me with this tea?
Guy	Yes.
	… Weren’t you the one who said my jasmine tea was delicious?
CHOICE 1: When you said it just arrived… [+] Izumi When you said it arrived recently, it’s like I was hit instantly with the scent of Zahra. Guy Yes, I suppose jasmine tea is a common drink in Zahra. Izumi Do you get reminded of Zahra when you smell it? Guy That is the case occasionally— When I was in Zahra, I would suddenly remember Japan. To me, both Zahra and Japan are home. I am forever indebted to Mankai and Director for helping me find my place here.
CHOICE 2: The making of jasmine tea… [+] Izumi Speaking of, Guy-san told me how to make the delicious jasmine tea. Guy I suppose I did. I did take you along to the tea shop… Izumi Yep! I had fun taste testing at that shop. Guy Yes. I can take you again if you’d like. We haven’t gone together in quite a while. Izumi Let’s go then! Guy … It’s enjoyable to go out with Director anywhere.
Izumi	Guy-san…
Guy	Now, drink it before it gets cold.
Izumi	Ah, right. Got it!
	… Mm, it’s as delicious as ever.
Guy	I’m relieved.
	As for the flower that Director chose, I’ll display it on the counter now.
Izumi	Sounds good! With this shop’s atmosphere, jasmine really was perfect.
	… I suppose I should stop patting myself on the back, huh?
Guy	It’s not that. I am grateful for this flower.
Izumi	If you say so!
Guy	… Hm.
	I think every time I see jasmine, I’ll be reminded of Director.

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