Kazunari Miyoshi/SUMMER NIGHT ESCAPE

Some Ice Cream on the Way Home

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Kazunari	(Let's see! Wonder if they're selling  any new sweets~?)
	(Huh? That guy standing at the ice cream section. Could it be—)
Tsuzuru	…
Kazunari	It is you, Tsuzuroon!
Tsuzuru	Miyoshi-san? You came here too, huh?
Kazunari	Yeah! I've been taking an "input" kind of day today. Y'know, taking in whatever I can to use as some kind of reference for my role now that our performance has been decided.
	So I spent the whole day going to the library, the theatre, and such!
Tsuzuru	Ohh. And I'm guessing you're on your way back home?
Kazunari	Bingo! What about you, Tsuzuroon? …Were you craving for some ice cream?
Tsuzuru	Err, well…
	This convenience store is running a promo campaign right now; if you buy two pieces of this ice cream, you can get a sticker of a character from this certain educational show.
	One of my little brothers said he wanted one, so I thought I'd go and get it for him.
Kazunari	Gotchie! In that case, I can eat one of the two pieces for you then!
Tsuzuru	Wait, you're sure? I mean, it'd certainly help me out—
Kazunari	Huh?
Tsuzuru	What do you mean "huh"? You're the one offering.
Tsuzuru	Well… I can't exactly finish this much ice cream all by myself, especially in this time of year.
Kazunari	Oh! Haha, I guess it's too chilly for it, huh!
Kazunari	Man~ This ice cream is so yummers! You sure I can just have this for free?
Tsuzuru	Yeah. I was mainly aiming for the sticker anyway.
	Though, it's been a while since I've had this type of ice cream. It's still pretty good.
Kazunari	That's what I'm saying! Even if the flavor's sorta unique.
Tsuzuru	It's a new release from them, apparently. I'm betting they added the sticker promo to this one to help with the sales.
Kazunari	I can see that~ I mean, this flavor's tasty too, but what I really love from this series is their soda-flavored one~
Tsuzuru	… By the way, how's role study coming along? You mentioned doing input studies today.
Kazunari	Mh-hmm! I did go and check out stuff that would seem useful to me. Definitely helped out a lot with the image building.
	I even watched some of the recommended must-watch battle royale movies too!
	Oh! Of course, I wasn't just watching for the sake of it! It got me thinking about how to move my body that'll be fitting for the stage.
	I was also thinking of asking the Autumn Troupe how they study their action-heavy roles, too… You think it'll help?
Tsuzuru	Erm… I mean, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask them? But  I feel like their level of hardiness is on a whole different scale.
Kazunari	Thought so~ …Maybe you have some kind of advice that might be ideal for my role study?
Tsuzuru	Right… Well, if your aim is to get some mobility exercise, what about trying a survival game?
Kazunari	A survival game, you say?
Tsuzuru	Some graduates that I'm acquainted with are planning to go for a session soon, and they invited me to go with them.
	The play's story will involve some shooting action scenes after all; I have a feeling you'll get good reference out of playing a game.
Kazunari	That's GENIUS! You're so big-brained, Tszuruoon!
Tsuzuru	So, yeah. Maybe you and the rest of Summer Troupe can go—
Kazunari	Hey, so when're you guys playing?
Tsuzuru	Huh? Uhh… We're gonna be going this weekend, so…
Kazunari	Okie dokes! Count me in then!
Tsuzuru	….Wait. Wait, whaaaat!?

Kazunari	Uwah!
Citron	The tagger's over there!
Taichi	Wait for me~!!
Izumi	…?? Sounds pretty lively over at the lounge.
Citron	Ha! Your back's worn over!
Taichi	Did you mean "wide open"?!
Kazunari	Now's our chance!
	*DASHES*
Izumi	(Citron and the others are running around in circles… Are they doing an etude?)
Citron	Oh! Director, that is a dangerous spot to be in! Off key is that way!
Izumi	O-Off key…?
Taichi	Safety! He means the safe zone! You won't get attacked there!
Izumi	O-Okay! So I have to run for safety first?!
	(They pulled me in without warning, but by the looks of it, they're probably doing some kind of survival game etude.)
Citron	There's nowhere else to run!
Taichi	Hehehe… So you think! There's actually a secret to this spot!
Kazunari	There's a roundabout path over here too☆ Let's go—
Tsuzuru	(walks in) Hm?
Kazunari	WAH!?
Tsuzuru	—Woah!?
	*THUD*
	*DROP*
Izumi	Tsuzuru-kun!? Kazunari-kun!?
Citron	Oh! The one who got one-hit KO'd wasn't Kazu, but Tsuzuru!
Taichi	Tsuzuru-kun coming in out of nowhere like that was crazy timing!! Are you two alright?
	*BOTH GET UP*
Kazunari	Owie ow ow… Sorry, Tsuzuroon! Wer were just pretending to play a survival game! I didn't mean to…!
Tsuzuru	For the love of…! Can't you act your age!?
Kazunari	(whine) … I'm really, reaaaaaally sorry!!
Tsuzuru	… So you're basically practicing as preparation for our upcoming survival game? Is that the gist?
Kazunari	Mhm…
Tsuzuru	And you didn't get hurt, did you, Director?
Izumi	Huh? I-I'm perfectly fine, yes.
Kazunari	We made sure Director-chan was in the safety zone!
Tsuzuru	You actually had something like that prepared…
Citron	This is all for the sake of role study, Tsuzuru… Have a heart!
Tsuzuru	Funny hearing that from you.
Taichi	Now now! It certainly… didn't turn out as the best kind of prep game, but we at least got the right vibes, I'm sure!
Kazunari	For real, I'm so sorry, Tsuzuroon. Knowing I was gonna be playing with your senpai, I felt like I was gonna have to put up a good front.
	That's why I got everyone to help me out.
Tsuzuru	… If that's your reason, it's hard for me to stay mad, I guess.
	Still, you don't need to get so worried over that. It'll be fine.
	I heard there's gonna be a bunch of first-timers in the group too, so the plan is just to go for the easier games.
Kazunari	Ehehe. Is that so? Then I guess I'll use this lesson to just show off my cool side to you, Tsuzuroon☆
Tsuzuru	What part of that was the lesson?
Kazunari	Uhm… The part where I make sure to be more careful about not running into you headfirst?
Tsuzuru	What're you even… Oh, whatever. I just hope the role study goes well for you, Miyoshi-san.
Taichi	Tsuzuru-kun really goes soft on people as long as the reasoning "role studies", huh?
Citron	Even Tsuzuru has a weak spot when he sees others doing their best for the stories he wrote for them! An absolute tsundere.
Tsuzuru	I CAN HEAR YOU, YOU KNOW!
Kazunari	Pheee-whew! I really worked up a sweat! Thanks again for today, Tsuzuroon!
Tsuzuru	Good to know you had some fun.
	… Fun enough to actually be so in-sync with my senpai that you guys even exchanged LIME contacts, it seemed. Wasn't expecting that.
Kazunari	Oh you bet it was super fun!
Tsuzuru	But another thing that I didn't expect was you having a more active role in the game that I thought you would.
Kazunari	Hehe, you think so?
	I, for one, feel like it was just the thing I needed for my role study.
Tsuzuru	That's great, then.
Kazunari	—Ah! A convenience store!
	Rightie! Wait right here, Tsuzuroon!
Tsuzuru	Uh, sure?
Kazunari	Here you go!
Tsuzuru	Ice cream?
Kazunari	Yep! Got the soda-flavored one for you☆
Tsuzuru	Huh, thanks. Did you want that sticker too?
	—Hm? Wait, but the soda flavor isn't part of the campaign.
Kazunari	Silly! This is thanks for the last time and for today!
Tsuzuru	You lumped them into a 2-in-1…
Kazunari	Mmmm… Soooo good! Hurry and take a bite before it melts, Tsuzuroon!
Tsuzuru	Ah, right. Thanks.
	…Wow, yeah. I like this flavor a lot more.
Kazunari	What'd I tell you~!

Dita