Kazunari Miyoshi/les sucreries

Atelier Tea Time

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2Part 3

Kazunari	Hmm…
Banri	What’s up?
Kazunari	I’m thinking what theme I should use for my next art assignment.
	I was considering choosing still life, but it’s been a while, so I also wanna paint someone…
	It’s hard when you have lots of choices, huh?
Banri	Yeah, it’s tough when the theme’s up to you.
Kazunari	You feel me~.
	I still have time, so I guess I’ll relax and think it over.
Misumi	You can do it, you can do it~!
Banri	Is that voice… Misumi?
Kazunari	I wonder what happened?
Tasuku	See, I told you.
Tsumugi	Ahaha…
Kazunari	What’re you guys up to?
Misumi	Tsumugi was challenging whether he could lift Tasuku~.
Banri	What the heck lead to that?
Tasuku	I just told him he should work out more since he was out of breath from just carrying a slightly larger planter.
Tsumugi	But I thought I would be able to lift something as heavy as Tasuku if I really put my back into it …
Kazunari	Dude, that’s a reckless challenge, you know!
Tsumugi	…Yeah. It really was too much for me.
Misumi	I bet I could lift Tasuku though~?
Tasuku	…Please don’t.
Misumi	How about you, Kazu? Can you princess carry him?
Kazunari	Let’s see…
	Tax is out of the question, but I think I could still pull it off with Settzer!
Banri	I question your judgment criteria.
	…But, I mean, if you can do it, then go ahead and try?
Kazunari	Alright, here goes~… Hmph!
Banri	…
Kazunari	…Welp, guess that’s that!
Banri	You sure threw in the towel fast.
Tasuku	Well, I predicted that wasn’t going to work.
Tsumugi	Ahaha…
Kazunari	Hold it! If it’s Tsumutsumu, then I think I can do it!
Tsumugi	M-me!?
Kazunari	Lemme give it a shot!
Misumi	You got this, Kazu~!
Tsumugi	Umm…
Tasuku	You guys…
Banri	Stop before you throw out your back.

Izumi	(…I wonder if this looks okay?)
	It’s been a while since I’ve dressed like this, so it feels off…
	(I pulled out a dress that I bought because I thought it looked cute, but it was just sitting in the closet since the timing was never right to wear it…)
	(Something about it just isn’t right though.)
	(I have a dress that I’ve worn before, but I don’t have time to change—)
	(It’s fine, I only get to wear this for times like today where I’m invited to a wedding.)
	…Wait, it’s this time already!?
	(I have to hurry…!)
	The gift, my wallet, the invitation card just in case…
	Great, I’ve got everything.
	(Alright, let’s head out!)
Kazunari	Hey, it’s Director-chan~.
	I see you’re all dolled up. Are you going out somewhere?
Izumi	Yep, I’m going to a friend’s wedding—err, sorry, I’m running behind on time, so I’ll be off!
Kazunari	Have fuuun.
	…
Izumi	*Sigh*, I’m beat…
	(In the end, I got swept along and ended up attending the after party too…)
	(It’s later than I expected.)
Kazunari	Welcome back, Director-chan!
	I was waiting for you to come home.
Izumi	Sorry I’m late. What’s up?
Kazunari	Hear me out… I have a favour to ask you.
Izumi	?
	Kazunari’s university… how long has it been since I’ve been here?
	(On top of that, to think I came in this dress…)
	*flashback starts*
	…You want to paint my portrait?
Kazunari	Yep! I was torn over what to do for my assignment. But when I saw you in your dress I totes thought, “I wanna draw that!”.
	You’re always cute, but I’d love to immortalize how you look all dressed up like today in a painting.
Izumi	Um, I’m…
	(Being told that kind of makes my heart skip a beat…)
Kazunari	Pretty please!
	*flashback ends*
Izumi	(I ended up agreeing as a result…)
	(I don’t even go here, but I still feel a bit uneasy loitering around in this outfit.)
	(In any case, I guess I’ll wait in this area.)
Kazunari	Sorry for the wait, Director-chan!
Izumi	Ah, Kazunari-kun.
	It’s fine. I just got here.
Kazunari	For reals? Thank goodness~.
	Thanks for coming all the way here!
	The atelier is over here. I’ll show you the way.

Kazunari	M’kay, I’m gonna jump right into it.
	Director-chan, you can take a seat on that sofa and make yourself comfortable.
Izumi	Sure thing.
	I feel kind of nervous though…
Kazunari	Ahaha, your shoulders are all tense!
	Let loose and have a seat.
	Ah, it’s alright if your line of sight isn’t on me!
	…Nice! Let’s take a quick break.
Izumi	Mhm…
	(*Sigh*… I can finally move again…)
Kazunari	Sorry for making you keep still.
Izumi	No worries.
	It’s pretty tough staying still the entire time.
Kazunari	We don’t do that all that often, huh?
	Ooh, I know! Wanna have some?
	They’re macarons! They’re famous for tasting delish!
	Let’s have ourselves a tea party!
Izumi	Thanks.
	Holding a tea party in an atelier feels fresh.
Kazunari	Uni’s pretty laissez-fair, after all.
	Besides, you came all the way here, so I gotta treat you properly.
	And most importantly, I rarely get the chance to have teatime with a dressed-up Director-chan, isn’t that right?
	The locale is my uni’s atelier though.
CHOICE 1: A tea party in an atelier sounds fun too [+] Izumi I’d never get the chance to have a tea party in a university’s atelier, so I’m looking forward to it. Kazunari You enjoy everything, just like that. Don’tcha, Director-chan? I like that about you. Izumi Ahaha, I appreciate it. Kazunari The ones who enjoy everything are winning, after all!
CHOICE 2: Amabi is an interesting place [+] Izumi Amabi is an interesting place. There’s lots of stylish people around. So many people I passed while I was waiting for you had their own unique fashion. Kazunari Speaking of unique, there’s a lot of eccentric folks too~. The day before, there were people who were holding a takoyaki party in a lecture hall! Izumi That’s amazing in its own way… Kazunari Well, that’s part of the fun too!
	Anyways, here’s the macarons!
	Choose any one you’d like.
Izumi	Ehh… I can’t decide which one to pick…
	Alright, I guess I’ll have pistachio.
Kazunari	Okayyy! Salted caramel for me then.
	It’s the instant kind, but I’ll whip up some black tea. Sit tight for a sec~.
Izumi	Thanks. Itadakimasu.
Kazunari	Let’s see, I’m pretty sure it’s over here—.
	*alarm goes off*
Announcement	“Fire. Fire. A fire has broken out.”
	“All students please evacuate immediately.”
Izumi	!?
Kazunari	Eh? EH? FIRE!?
Izumi	This isn’t an evacuation drill, is it…?
Kazunari	I didn’t hear of anything like that…
	In any case, we should probably head outside. Now.
	Over here, Director-chan!
Izumi	O-okay.
	*opens door*
	Kazunari-kun, there’s smoke…!
Kazunari	Woah~!? This is legit!
Izumi	We have to get out of here, quick…!
Kazunari	Wait, Director-chan. You can’t run in that outfit, can you?
Izumi	I think I’ll manage if I take off my heels, but…
Kazunari	Hold still… upsie-daisies!
Izumi	Wah! Kazunari-kun!?
Kazunari	…I’ll carry you, princess.
Izumi	…
	(This is unmistakably a princess carry… isn’t it!?)
Kazunari	Hold on tight!
Izumi	Eh!? Wait a minute—!
Kazunari	Here we go!
	…And that’s why we were in a doozy the other day~.
	Director-chan got a fright too!
Banri	Hey, if it’s Director-chan, then she’ll be fine.
	Besides, it wasn’t actually a fire in the end, right?
Kazunari	Right, right. Apparently, the smoke from people grilling meat in a lecture hall set off the fire alarm.
Banri	What a drag involving the whole school over grilled meat…
	Oh yeah. I heard there’s a rumour you were with a girl.
	There’s lotsa speculation flying ‘round that she’s your girlfriend.
Kazunari	Ahh… well, I’m not gonna deny it!
Banri	Why’s that?
Kazunari	But, I mean… if I had to say, she’s more like my muse.

Anna