Homare Arisugawa/Banquet of Blooming

Starring "Homare"

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Izumi	(The smell of black tea is so nice... No matter how many times I come, this shop is just as lovely as always. No wonder this is Homare-san’s favorite specialty store.)
Homare	Hm, this is the first time I’m seeing these tea leaves.
Employee	This is our new flavor. It uses keemun as a base, along with a blend of three different essential oils.
Homare	I see. Then I’ll have some of this tea as well. And then, this one here, and my usual tea...
Izumi	(Homare-san isn’t hesitating to buy things left and right, but all the teas here seem expensive...)
	(Let me see the price tag... I knew it! That’s one too many zeroes...!)
Homare	Is something the matter?
Izumi	N- not at all.
	These must be tea sets lined up here.
	Ah! Here it is, Homare-san. The limited tea set.
	We originally came here to buy this set, not tea leaves, right?
Homare	Ah, that’s right--
	Oh, the use of color, the curves, the feel of the material... How wonderful! -- Ah, I can feel a wave of poetic inspiration coming on!
	Floating lightly, this flavor, as it’s poured into this gorgeous cup, how wunderbar...!
Izumi	(There he goes again... At least he looks like he's having fun.)
	Ah, these cookies look delicious.
Employee	These are our original baked sweets, made using our own tea leaves. They're a popular product.
Homare	Hm, baked sweets, is it? They certainly look delicious.
	Alright, then let's get 20 boxes of this shortbread set.
Izumi	20!? What are we going to do with so many?
Homare	Heheh. They're for tomorrow's screening event, of course.
Homare	Thank you for visiting today. I'm Homare Arisugawa, playing the lead, Tooru Sagishima.
Hisoka	Hisoka Mikage... as Shiki Tojo.
Tasuku	Tasuku Takato as Keiji Nakatsu. I'll be in your care.
	So, first things first--
Homare	Before that, can I have a moment? ... Manager, bring them out.
Manager	Certainly!
Tasuku	What...?
Hisoka	A tea cart... with shortbread and tea on it.
Homare	That's right. It's snack time.
Tasuku	Huh?
Hisoka	... There aren't any marshmallows.
Manager	Everyone, please have some shortbread!
	Ah, food and drinks are normally prohibited inside the theater! Today is just an exception~!
Audience A	Wow, thank you so much!
Audience B	Amazing, they look great!
Homare	Are you done distributing them? Yes, in that case--
	Let's hold a rerun of our test of elegance!
Hisoka	... Never heard of that.
Homare	At the time we first performed The Master Likes a Mystery, we held a "True Gentleman's Test of Elegance" to help with our role study.
Tasuku	Ah... are you talking about when we had to guess which of two items you had prepared were actually high quality?
Hisoka	Oh yeah, we did do that.
Homare	I thought we might do that test again today, in front of everyone.
Tasuku	The heck...?
Homare	By the way, the topic is tea.
	One of these is made with the high quality tea leaves I purchased the other day, while the other is made with home-grown tea leaves from a lady living in the neighborhood around the dorm.
	I haven't drank either tea yet, myself, so even I don't know the correct answer. Alright, let's begin at once!
Audience A	Wow, this sounds like fun!
Audience B	I can't believe they did this for their role study!
Tasuku	Good grief... Guess we don't have a choice.
Hisoka	Sigh...
Tasuku, Hisoka	Gulp...
Tasuku	I don't know a lot about tea, but... The expensive one is... B, maybe?
Hisoka	... Me too... it's B.
Homare	I see, so you both have chosen B. Okay, let me drink some and see.
	Well, I do drink tea habitually. Just by smelling them, I can--
	Hm?
	Hmph, I'll take a sip, then... Gulp.
	... Mm. It's delicious.
	Gulp... This one has a nice fragrance and tastes lovely as well.
	Hmm...
Tasuku	... So?
Hisoka	Which one do you choose, Arisu?
Homare	Hm, hm... I'll choose B as well!
Manager	Then let me announce the correct answer!
	The real high quality tea leaves are... A! All of you got it wrooong!
Homare	What!?

Izumi	I can't believe Homare-san picked the wrong tea leaves... That was unexpected.
Homare	To think there's a genius at making tea leaves so near to us... I'm surprised, but impressed.
Tasuku	Sigh... Well, we got through the talk show without any issues, so that's good at least.
	Ah, right. Arisugawa, don't forget the Polaroid photo.
Homare	You mean the present for our fans, correct? That was quite the tasteful plan Sakyo-san came up with.
Hisoka	... He just said it won't cost much.
Izumi	Ahaha...
	Okay, Homare-san, please stand over here. And, you have to pose something like this.
Homare	Understood.
	Is it okay if I do it like this? Next, I'll change my angle a little... and then I could put my hands like this...
Hisoka	... How many is he going to take?
Izumi	... Um, I think that's enough.
Homare	Is it? Then, let's select which one we'll use.
Tasuku	... They all look the same.
Hisoka	There's no difference.
Izumi	(They do all look similar, but... This one feels a little different, I think.)
	Hmm... This one feels the most like Homare-san, so could this work?
Homare	Yes, the way I'm holding up my fingers, the angle... Everything is artistic and flawless!
	I knew I could count on you to choose, Director.
Izumi	Ahaha, thank you.
Izumi	... Mm, that smells good.
	(This must be the peach-flavored tea Homare-san recommended when we went to the tea shop the other day...)
	With how high-quality and delicious it is, you can tell it's from a good place.
	... yawn.
Izumi	(Huh...? Where am I? It's a retro-looking townscape as far as the eye can see...)
???	Izumi-sama?
Izumi	Me? ... Um, Sagishima-... san?
Sagishima	Using such formal language with your butler is unnecessary.
Izumi	(B- but he addressed me formally, too...)
	Um, in that case, I don't need you to use formal language, either.
Sagishima	What...?
Izumi	Uh...
Sagishima	To think that you, the scion of the Tachibana family, would say such a thing to a mere butler...
Izumi	Scion!?
Sagishima	What are you so surprised about? You are the scion of the Tachibana family, Lady Izumi, are you not?
Izumi	Lady Izumi...
Sagishima	... Sigh, you're as restless as a stray cat that's been picked up. How deplorable.
Sagishima	... You must be tired. Have this, if it's alright with you.
Izumi	This is... a can of tea?
Sagishima	That's right. If you drink this, your restlessness might get a little better.
Izumi	...!
	(Somehow, I feel like he's been saying rude things for a while.)
Sagishima	Heh...
Sagishima	Then, have a nice day, Lady Izumi.
Izumi	... Mm.
Homare	Oh, you're awake.
	I was just thinking I should put a blanket on you.
Izumi	S- sorry. Thank you.
	Thanks to the flavored tea you recommended, I had a really comfortable sleep.
	... I had a kinda weird dream, though.
Homare	Oh, what did you dream of?
Izumi	Well...
Homare	?
Izumi	... No, it's not that important. Ah, I got tea at the end of it.
Homare	Oh, so you even saw it in your dream. That must mean you liked the tea a lot.
	-- That's right, wait here for a moment.
Izumi	?
Homare	Sorry for the wait. Here's some warm milk tea.
Izumi	Wow, this smells nice...
	This peachy fragrance... is this that flavored tea?
Homare	That's right. It's delicious on its own as well, but I recommend making it into milk tea.
Izumi	I see.
CHOICE 1: That's just as I'd expect from you, Homare-san. [+] Izumi That's just as I'd expect from you, Homare-san. You're very knowledgeable about tea, and you're just as good at making it. Homare Heheh, that's natural, is it not? I love tea above all else, after all. If you ever want to drink my tea, just say so. I'll brew you my special fragrant tea. Just for you, with all my heart.
CHOICE 2: It really does look delicious. [+] Izumi It really does look delicious. I'm starting to like this tea more and more. Homare That's good to hear. Seeing you smile like this when you like what I recommend makes me very happy, too. From now on as well, I will continue to give you various things to make you happy along with my poems. Look forward to it, Director. Izumi Thank you, Homare-san.
Homare	That said...
	Alright, bon appetit, Lady Izumi.
Izumi	!?
Homare	What's the matter?
Izumi	... No, it's nothing. Thank you for the tea.

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