Kumon Hyodo/sweet☆kiss

Aim to be a Makeup Assistant!

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Kazunari	We’re starving, huh, Settzer!
Banri	Yep. Let’s head home already.
Kazunari’s friend	Kazu, do you have a second?
	I need to talk to you about the cultural festival.
Kazunari	No probs. What’s up?
Kazunari’s friend	So you see, we’re going to hold a fashion show again this year.
	Could we ask that kid from your troupe who helped us last time to lend us a hand again?
Kazunari	Ah. You mean Azamin, right!
Banri	The cultural festival’s fashion show, eh?
	Last time, Yuki helped with the outfits and Azami with the makeup.
Kazunari’s friend	We’re fine for the outfits, but we’re a bit short on hands for the miscellaneous tasks like the makeup assistant and such.
	That’s why it’d be a lifesaver if we could ask that kid and one more person to join us.
Kazunari	I see~. I’ll run it by him.
	Can you press pause on that for a bit?
Kazunari’s friend	Of course.
	I’ll leave it to you then.
Azami	Like that?
Yuki	Yeah. It looks cute, doesn’t it?
Izumi	Ahaha, I feel a bit shy.
	But thanks.
	*door opens*
Banri	We’re back.
	Oh, if it ain’t Azami.
Kazunari	Ooh, you’re right! It looks hyped up in here. What’re you guys doing?
Kumon	Ah, Kazu-san!
	Azami was doing Director’s makeup just now!
Banri	Did he ask you to be his model for his new cosmetics again?
Azami	Nah. She said she was gonna go meet with a friend. But she was about to leave with her makeup all wonky so I was just touchin’ it up.
Yuki	That alone made a big difference.
Kazunari	That’s Azamin for you!
	Say, won’t you use those makeup skills to rescue Amabi’s cultural festival too?
Kumon	Awesome!
	The fashion show at the cultural festival sounds super cool!
Yuki	Like the one we participated in before?
Banri	Yeah.
	But apparently they have enough helpers for the costumes this time.
Kazunari	And that’s why they said they deffs wants Azami on the makeup again. What do you say?
Azami	Sure, I’ll do it.
	I don’t have any particular plans that day.
	It was busy, but I had fun last time.
Kazunari	Woo, thanks!
Banri	What should we do about the other helper?
	If I recall correctly, the job was doin’ various tasks and helping with the makeup.
Kumon	Here, here!
	I volunteer as tribute!
Kazunari	Seriously!?
	We’re saved!
Yuki	Are you sure it’ll be alright?
	It’s going to be pretty busy.
Izumi	Backstage at that fashion show felt like a battlefield…
Kumon	I’m just doing odd jobs and acting as Azami’s assistant, right?
	I’m confident in my stamina, so don’t worry about it!
Yuki	Uh, the tasks aside, assisting with makeup isn’t just a matter of strength, you know?
Kumon	Assisting’s just like saying “got it!” and handing them stuff, isn’t it?
	I’ve seen the tools Azami uses for our plays. I’ll figure it out, I’m sure!
Banri	If you don’t even know their names or uses, then you won’t be very helpful.
Kumon	I’ll know them if he teaches me!
Kazunari	Kumopi’s super fired up!
Kumon	I mean, Amabi’s cultural festival sounds like a super fun time!
	I wanna go for sure!
Yuki	Oh, so that’s your real intention?
Izumi	I think his willingness to learn is admirable though.
Kazunari	Of course I’ll be your perfect guide around the festival after the fashion show’s over!
Azami	Well, I can teach him without holdin’ back, plus it’ll save me since he’ll be easy to use as a helper…
Kazunari	My friend said they’ll thank you too. Keep that spirit up and do your best, Kumopi!
Kumon	Seriously!?
	I’m gonna give it my all!
Azami	Director. I’d like to ask for your help while I teach Kumon the makeup tools. You okay with that?
Izumi	You don’t even have to ask!
	I’ll help in any way I can.
Kumon	I’m gonna study with all my might!
	Azami, Director, I’m in your hands!

Kumon	Wow, there’s so many makeup tools!
	How many brushes are there alone? 1, 2…
Azami	Alright already. Let’s get started.
	I’ve asked Director to lend us her face too.
Kumon	Oh, right!
	I’m counting on you today!
Izumi	Yeah, same here.
Azami	Alright, we’ll start with the base for now.
	Get the liquid concealer, Kumon.
Kumon	Let’s see… this one, I think?
Azami	Nope. This one.
Kumon	Oh, that one~!
Azami	*Sigh*… well, I knew there was no way you’d get it from the start.
Kumon	Mm, I’ve watched you a bit during our plays, so I thought I could pull it off.
Izumi	I think it’ll be hard if you just jump into it all of a sudden. How about you start with memorizing the names of the tools, one-by-one?
Kumon	Great idea! Handing things over seems like the most important part of assisting, so I’d like you to start with teaching me the names!
Azami	Got it.
	…And that’s that.
	I went over them two times so you should know ‘em now, right?
Izumi	(Spartan much…!)
Kumon	I think I remember!
	This is for the concealer and this one is for the foundation.
	And then, um, this one is…
Azami	Too slow.
	That’s for contour.
Kumon	I was just about to say that!
Azami	I don’t have time to wait around on the day of, got it?
Kumon	Arghhh…
	I’m gonna remember it this time. Two more times, please!
Izumi	(You can do it, Kumon-kun…!)
Kumon	It’s really bustling here!
	There’s lots of stalls out too!
Kazunari	Lemme know if you have any requests.
	I’ll treat you to anything you want once you’re done helping out!
Kumon	Are you sure?
	Alriiight, I’m gonna give it my all helping!
Azami	Geez, you’re so simple.
Banri	M’kay, should we head to the backyard?
Kazunari	Hard at work, I see~!
	I’ve brought them!
Kazunari’s friend	Oh, that helps.
	I look forward to working with you two today!
Kumon & Azami	We look forward to working with you!
Kazunari’s friend	I expect it’ll be busy, but do your best!
Kumon	Right, thanks!
Banri	Aight, we’re gonna head out now.
Kazunari	We’ll swing back later!
Staff	The models are coming!
	We’ll be counting on you!
Azami	Alright, let’s do this.
Kumon	Okay!
	We got this!
Azami	Kumon, hand me the lash brush.
Kumon	Here!
Kazunari’s friend	Can you bring this bracelet over to that model over there, Kumon-kun?
Kumon	On it!
	Azami, what do you need next?
Azami	Eyebrows.
Kumon	This one, right!
Student A	Those two make a great team.
Student B	They’re really in-sync!
Azami	The base is like this, huh?
	Next up is…
Kumon	Touch it up with the finishing brush and then use a glitter eyeshadow palette for the person next to them, right!
Azami	…!
	Yeah, that works.
	Thanks.
	*Sigh*, finished…
	It really was busy as hell.
Kumon	The models kept coming and we had no time to rest!
Kazunari’s friend	Great job, guys.
	You must be thirsty. Here you go.
Kumon	Thanks!
Kazunari’s friend	You guys were a lifesaver. Thanks.
	We’re done with the show’s preparations now, so go out and enjoy the festival.
Azami	‘Kay.
Kazunari	You two killed it!
	My friend was super grateful too!
Kumon	I see. That’s great!
Kazunari	Here’s the yakisoba, sausage, churros and steamed bun Kumopi requested…
Kumon	Yaaay, there’s so much!
	Thanks, Kazu-san!
Banri	I bet it was tough since it was busy again this year.
Azami	Well, yeah.
	But Kumon was a huge help in his own way.
Kumon	…!
	Really!?
Azami	Yeah.
Kumon	Woohoo!
	It was worth putting so much effort to learn!
Kazunari	Has Kumopi broadened his horizons?
Kumon	Hehe!
Azami	Oi, don’t get ahead of yourself.
	There’s more to makeup than just that, y’know?
	A stage and a show are different things and blah, blah, blah…
	Depending on how you use them, even the tools are so on and so forth…
Kazunari	Now, now, Azamin!
Banri	Welp, Azami’s no different from the demon.

Anna