Hisoka Mikage/Blessings of Blooming

Two-Man Play:Hisoka with Misumi

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Misumi	Hisoka, what’s written for our theme?
Hisoka	…”The Hare and the Tortoise.”
Misumi	…What kind of story was “The Hare and the Tortoise” again~? I don’t exactly remember.
Hisoka	I barely know it either… For now though, there’s a summary and some lines written here.
Misumi	Let’s see… The hare and tortoise race, the hare falls asleep, and the tortoise wins.
Hisoka	The lines are “Oh no! I overslept!” and “I’ll be going ahead now~”...
Misumi	So it’s a story about Mr. Hare and Mr. Tortoise!
Hisoka	Seems like it.
Misumi	Alrighty then, we gotta get some props so we can completely turn into the Hare and the Tortoise!
	Let’s split the work for each, which one do you want?
Hisoka	I’m fine with either… I’ll choose the hare then.
Misumi	Got it! I’ll go find props for the Tortoise then!
Misumi	By the way, what should we do about the story?
	Earlier, Director-san said we could expand the story or do an etude.
Hisoka	Yeah, that’s right.
Misumi	What do you think is better? I already have one I’m leaning towards~
Hisoka	…Me too, pretty much.
Misumi	Then let’s say it on 3! 1, 2, 3!
Misumi & Hisoka	Etude.
Misumi	We thought the same, hooray~!
Hisoka	…The original plot was easily understandable, so I figured doing an etude with you would be more fun.
Misumi	Yup, I totally getcha. That’s how I feel too!
	And speaking of races, whenever I race with you or the kitties the winner changes each time which makes it fun!
Hisoka	Let’s do the same for our etude, where we won’t know the outcome until the day itself...
Misumi	Yeah, this is really exciting!
Hisoka	We're racing for real, all right?
Misumi	I won’t lose~!
Homare	Hisoka-kun, what might be the theme for your two-man play?
Hisoka	“The Hare and the Tortoise.”
Homare	Oh, it appears yours is a children’s story as well. Are you familiar with its details?
Hisoka	Not really, just the general flow of the story from the summary that was written.
Homare	I see. If you are not familiar with the finer details, then I recommend reading a picture book at the library.
Hisoka	…I’ll think about it.
Homare	Very well. If you want to go to the library, then allow me to accompany you.
Hisoka	No need.
Homare	Why not? We might as well go toge—
Hisoka	Gotta go to my part-time job.
Guy	Let’s leave today’s preparations here. Let’s take a short break too until opening time.
Hisoka	Got it.
Guy	By the way, how is your two-man play coming along? I assume you’ve made some progress after discussing it with Ikaruga.
Hisoka	…We both decided to make it an etude. We’re also preparing some props on our own.
Guy	I see.
Hisoka	Also, Arisu told me earlier that I should read a picture book if I don’t know much about the details, but—
	I don’t really feel like reading. I wonder why…
Guy	Hmm…
	My theme is a well-known children’s story just like yours, so I was planning to work on it while keeping the original story in mind, however…
	Just acting based solely on the summary and the lines the Director gave without researching anything could be one way you can go about the play.
Hisoka	What do you mean?
Guy	The fact that you’re not familiar with the original allows your imagination to broaden, leading to different approaches that could make things more interesting, don’t you think so?
	Perhaps the reason why you did not want to read a picture book was because the actor in you felt that it would be more enjoyable to act without knowing anything.
Hisoka	I’m not sure that’s entirely why… But the fun without knowing part may be right.
Guy	You normally can’t do that with the troupe’s performances, but this is just a two-man play only for us to see anyway.
Hisoka	Yeah… I’ll give the etude a shot while not researching the original.
Guy	Sounds good. I’d like to see what will become of your improv.
Hisoka	…By the way, do you know where they sell bunny ears?
Guy	Right, you did mention preparing props. Discount stores might have them, no?
Hisoka	Thanks. I’ll go look tomorrow.
Hisoka	(Bunny ears… Where are you…?)
Tsumugi	Hisoka-kun?
Hisoka	…Tsumugi.
Tsumugi	Are you out shopping?
Hisoka	Yeah. I was looking for bunny ears for my two-man play’s props.
Tsumugi	Ah, I see. Your theme was “The Hare and the Tortoise” right?
	Bunny ears, was it? I’ll help you look for it.
Hisoka	You sure? Don’t you have your own things to do?
Tsumugi	I had shopping to do at the flower shop nearby, but I’m all done now so it’s fine.
	On my way back, I saw you enter here so I followed and called out to you.
Hisoka	…Then thanks. It’d be a great help.
Tsumugi	Hisoka-kun, there’s two kinds.
Hisoka	Two kinds?
Tsumugi	Straight ears and droopy ears. Which one do you want?
Hisoka	…Honestly, either could work in the play. What do you think?
Tsumugi	Since you came all the way here to buy this prop for the play, it’d be best if you choose what you prefer based on your own gut feeling.
Hisoka	Alright then… This one.

Izumi	Hisoka-san, everyone from the Winter Troupe came to watch.
Hisoka	…Why?
Misumi	It’s cuz everyone wants to see your play, y’know~
Hisoka	I think you’re part of the reason too. Everyone’s probably wondering how this’ll turn out.
Misumi	Ehehe, it’s nice to think that they’re excited to see me act too~
Hisoka	They’re definitely looking forward to it.
	…Oh right, there’s just one thing I have to ask of you for extra context on the Tortoise.
Misumi	What is it~?
Hisoka	Mumble mumble…
Misumi	Ahaha, that sounds like fun! Alrighty, I’ll do it~!
Izumi	If you two are ready, you can start whenever.
Hisoka	Well then Misumi, let’s go.
Misumi	Yeah, let’s break a leg~!
Hisoka	“What perfect weather for a nice walk… Ah.”
Misumi	“Trudge… trudge…”
Hisoka	“What a slow walker… If you’re going that slow, you could at least step aside a bit…”
Misumi	“Eh~ how rude! Did you just trash talk me in front of my face~? Whatever, I like walking in the middle of the path!“
Hisoka	“It’s not about whether you like that or not.”
Misumi	“I wanna walk down the middle!”
Hisoka	“...You’re just in the way with how slow you are. I can’t pass you so just move to the side.”
Misumi	“You’re a meanie!”
Hisoka	“Oh, but I guess you’re just so slow that it’d be tough to move to the side in an instant.”
Misumi	“Grr, now you’re really ticking me off!”
	“You say all that but I’m actually faster than you, y’know?”
Hisoka	“...What? The heck are you saying?”
Misumi	“If you think I’m lying, let’s race!”
Hisoka	“...Fine by me. Don’t say I didn’t warn you if you lose though.”
Misumi	“I won’t lose!”
Hisoka	“Alright then, on your mark… get set, go!”
Misumi	“I’ll be going ahead now~!”
Tsumugi	What!? Misumi-kun’s Tortoise is extremely quick…!
Tasuku	The plush is flying around like crazy…
Hisoka	“H-how are you so fast…!?”
Misumi	“You still genuinely believe tortoises are slow~?”
Hisoka	“No but tortoises are supposed to be slow. Are you even actually a tortoise…?”
Misumi	“See, told you so!”
	“But, huff… puff… I’m getting tired…”
Hisoka	“I see, your initial velocity is fast, but you’ve got no stamina. If that’s the case, then…”
	“I’ll be going ahead now~!”
Misumi	“No, I’ve been overtaken!”
Hisoka	“Pant… I’ve pulled way ahead of Tortoise, but now I’m tired…”
	“I’m sleepy… Zzz…”
Misumi	“Alright, I’ve recovered my stamina! Oh, Hare is sleeping! This time for sure… I’ll be going ahead~! Zoom!”
Hisoka	“...Ngh… I’ll be going ahead…?“
	“Oh shoot! I overslept!”
Misumi	“The goal is just up ahead~!”
Hisoka	“Wait~!”
Misumi	“Woah, you caught up to me!?”
Hisoka	“I won’t lose…!”
Misumi	“Me neither~!”
Misumi & Hisoka	“Goal!”
Hisoka	“Pant… pant…”
Misumi	“Huff… puff…”
Hisoka	“You… weren’t bad…”
Misumi	“You weren’t bad yourself~!”
Tasuku	This is completely different from the Hare and the Tortoise that we know, huh…
Tsumugi	But it’s got humor, so it was entertaining.
Azuma	Fufu, it turned out to be a very Hisoka and Misumi-like play.
Homare	It was shocking when I heard that Hisoka-kun did not want to read a picture book—
	However as it turns out, that choice of not reading made the story take quite an unexpectedly interesting turn.
Izumi	Speaking of, Hisoka-san, what did you ask of Misumi-kun before the play started?
Hisoka	I told him I wanted the Tortoise to be fast.
Guy	I see, so it was that part.
Hisoka	After talking with Guy and Tsumugi, I’ve tried coming up with all sorts of things on how the story of The Hare and the Tortoise would go…
	Through my intuition, I thought making the Tortoise go fast would be entertaining. That’s why I asked Misumi to do it.
Misumi	Thanks to that, this turned out really fun!
Hisoka	This was all possible because of you too, you know.
Izumi	Well then, I think it’s time to take your photo.
Misumi	I’ll take it! Hisoka, strike a pose~
Hisoka	…Alright.
Misumi	Is this good?
Izumi	Yeah, it turned out great. It gives off the vibes that the Hare and the Tortoise from earlier became good friends!
Hisoka	But, these two will probably fight over and over again in the future.
Misumi	So then they’ll just make up each and every time!

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