Hisoka Mikage/Strawberry KISS

A REQUEST TO THE TERU TERU BOZU

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Izumi	(It’s also raining today… the sun hasn’t come out lately.)
Hisoka	Zzz…
Homare	Come on, Hisoka-kun. Wake up!
Hisoka	Ngh.
Izumi	A-Ahmm, is everything alright?
Homare	Ah, Director-kun. It is as you see, Hisoka-kun won’t wake up at all.
Hisoka	…I’m awake.
Homare	Dear… you will block the way for others sleeping in the middle of the corridor.
Izumi	Why are you sleeping in a place like this?
Hisoka	Actually, I wanted to sleep in the courtyard, but it’s raining.
Izumi	I see. Yeah, it has been raining a lot these days.
Homare	Indeed, there’s nothing we can do about it.
	But I must admit I’m frustrated about not being able to hold a tea gathering in the courtyard for so long.
	…Ah, inspiration has come to me!
	Would you come to this tea gathering in the rain? Maybe rainy but a tea party!
	What do you think? A fine poem, don’t you agree?
Hisoka	Zzz…
Izumi	Ah, just when I thought he would be awake for a while.
Homare	Oh, dear… didn’t you have to work at Guy’s shop today?
Hisoka	…You’re right.
Homare	Then, hurry up and get ready.
Izumi	Good luck at work, Hisoka-san!
Hisoka	…Mhm.
Guy	Mikage. This is for table three.
Hisoka	Okay. Also, table one asked for a Moscow Mule.
Guy	Understood.
	…Mh.
Hisoka	What’s the matter?
Guy	It seems like we run out of stock of mixer drinks. I thought I bought more of them…
Hisoka	I can go to buy them. You stay in the bar, Guy.
Guy	It’s raining. I apologize, but are you alright with me asking you that favor?
Hisoka	Sure. I’ll be back.
	(…I’m sure this will be enough.)
	(…The rain hasn’t stopped at all.)
Cat	…Meow.
Hisoka	(…A cat’s meow? Where did it come from?)
	Under those eaves… it might be taking shelter from the rain.
Cat	Meow~
Hisoka	There, there.
Cat	Purr, purr. Meow~
Hisoka	…I want to play with you, but I have to go back. Guy is waiting for me.
	Be careful not to get wet, okay?
Cat	Meow~
Hisoka	Hm?
	(So there was a poster displayed here. I didn’t notice it.)
	—!
Kumon	It’s raining again today~
Muku	There’s no choice. It’s because of the season. I’ve started to miss the sunny days.
Hisoka	…Sigh.
Tsumugi	Is there something wrong, Hisoka-kun? You let out a sigh after looking outside the window…
Azuma	Maybe he had plans to go out somewhere.
Homare	He mentioned he couldn’t sleep in the courtyard because of the rain. So Hisoka-kun might be tired of this never-ending rain.
Hisoka	…
Yuki	I hope tomorrow is sunny. The weather forecast is not good, though.
Tsumugi	Do you have something to do?
Misumi	Mhm! The summer troupe will have a picnic~
Homare	I see. The weather determines if you carry it out or not.
Kazunari	For these cases, the solution is making teru teru bozus!
Azuma	Teru teru bozus? The summer troupe makes them often.
Muku	I’m someone who attracts the rain. The teru teru bozu’s efficacy might drop because of me…
Yuki	You’re overthinking it. It has worked quite well before.
Kazunari	That’s right! The boy who attracts the sun is here too!
Misumi	Let’s get ready~
Hisoka	…I will make one too.
Kazunari	Oh, Hiso Hiso will join us too!?
Kumon	Let’s make them together~!
Tsumugi	So Hisoka-kun misses taking a nap in the courtyard that much.
Azuma	Fufu. There might be another reason he wants it to be sunny.

Muku	The summer troupe’s teru teru bozus usually have a face drawn on them.
Hisoka	Oh, I see…
Yuki	Also, we attach our favorite ribbon to it as a necktie.
Kazunari	You need to decorate yours too, Hiso Hiso! How about starting with the face?
Misumi	I will use this triangle I picked up earlier to make the head of the teru teru bozu!
	I spin it like this to cover it… and it’s done~!
Kumon	Awesome! That’s impressive, Sumi-san!
Yuki	A teru teru bozu with a triangle head is innovative. A bit too much, though.
Hisoka	…Can I use anything to make the head?
Kazunari	Yep! Generally, you make it by rolling some tissues~
	But the effectiveness will somehow rise if you put something important inside!
Kumon	Really!?
Yuki	First I’ve heard of that.
Hisoka	Something important…
	Then I’ll use marshmallows. Some cheap ones.
Kazunari	Sounds good to me!
Misumi	It seems soft to the touch. So nice~!
Muku	Tomorrow will be sunny for sure with this!
Hisoka	…Mhm.
Izumi	It’s been a while since we had a lovely day like today.
Azuma	It seems like the teru teru bozu that the summer troupe made with Hisoka worked in the end.
Tsumugi	I think this weather is nice enough for them to have enjoyed their picnic.
Izumi	Yeah, me too. They should be back soon.
	*Hisoka enters the room*
Hisoka	I’m back.
Izumi	Ah, Hisoka-kun. Welcome home.
Tsumugi	Did you go out too, Hisoka-kun?
Hisoka	Mhm.
Azuma	And you even brought some packages with you.
Hisoka	These… are freshly-made marshmallows from a sweet festival that’s currently exhibiting them.
Tsumugi	Freshly-made marshmallows?
Izumi	Wow, they are colorful and fancy!
Hisoka	I couldn’t go to buy them if they canceled it because of the rain… I’m glad today was sunny.
Tsumugi	I understand… that’s why you made a teru teru bozu too.
Azuma	Fufu. You never change, Hisoka.
Izumi	So they were holding that type of festival.
Hisoka	I found a poster about it when I went to play with a cat sheltering from the rain.
CHOICE 1: Are there other sweets? [+] Izumi There might be other sweets as well! I’m a bit curious about them. Tsumugi Sweets… I feel like Juza-kun would be interested in them. Azuma Fufu, I agree. Hisoka Then… I’ll invite them next time I go. Of course, Director can come too. Izumi Thanks, I can’t wait.
CHOICE 2: All thanks to the cat. [+] Izumi Then, because of the cat, you learned about the sweet festival. Hisoka It was a pretty friendly cat… maybe it was the marshmallow god in disguise. Izumi Haha. In that case, you have to show your gratitude to it. Hisoka Mhm. I’ll say thanks to it when I meet it again.
Izumi	Even so, that seems like a considerable amount of freshly-made marshmallows to eat all by yourself—.
	*Tenma comes in*
Tenma	I’m back.
Kazunari	That picnic was fun–!
Misumi	I found a new triangle~!
Izumi	Welcome back.
Kumon	But, what are you doing gathered here?
Hisoka	…Here. For you.
Tenma	Hm? These are… marshmallows?
Kazunari	What, these are super puffy!
Yuki	Heh, their color is cute too.
Hisoka	Those are freshly-made marshmallows I bought at a sweet festival. …Please, eat them.
Muku	Can we really take them?
Yuki	They seem exclusive.
Hisoka	…I could buy them because it was sunny today.
	That means, it was all thanks to you and the teru teru bozu. Thanks.
Muku	So that was it!
Kumon	I’m glad you could buy them without problems.
Kazunari	Since you insist, time to try them!
Misumi	Thanks, I’m taking one~!
Tenma	Those are as good as the ones on my filming sets.
Yuki	If I’m not wrong, Tenma wasn’t with us yesterday. Are you sure you want to give some to him?
Tenma	W-What are you saying!?
Hisoka	There are many of them. Let’s eat them all together.
	Director, Tsumugi and Azuma too.
Izumi	Thanks, Hisoka-san.
Azuma	It’s cute how absorbed they are in eating the marshmallows.
Tsumugi	A scene that makes you smile.
Izumi	Fufu. Indeed.
Hisoka	Munch, munch… so tasty.

Moonlight