Tasuku Takato/An Angel's Close Friendship

The Man Who Watches Over

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Guy	Welcome—Ah, Takato.
Tasuku	Sorry I’m late.
	Beer, please.
Azuma	You came, hm, Tasuku?
Homare	We have been waiting.
Hisoka	…Here, your beer.
Tsumugi	Good work today.
Tasuku	…Is something the matter, Tsumugi?
Tsumugi	Ehh?
Tasuku	Ah, no, it’s because you look kind of out of it.
	It’s fine if it’s nothing though.
Homare	Oh, does he?
	Goodness, I didn’t notice.
Azuma	That’s a childhood friend for you, huh?
Guy	Did something happen, Tsukioka?
Tsumugi	Ahaha, I’m no match for Tasuku, huh?
	There was actually something that was bothering me today.
	I don’t think it’s a big deal, but…
	For some reason, I feel like I was being watched by someone all day today.
Guy	By someone?
Tsumugi	Yes. I had today off, so I was inside the dorm all day. But there were several times I felt someone’s gaze on me out of nowhere.
	Like when I was eating lunch, or gardening, or reading a book on the balcony…
Azuma	Could it be a stalker?
Hisoka	There aren't that many places in the dorm that you can see from the outside, so I doubt it.
Tasuku	It's not like the people inside are stalkers.
Tsumugi	My perception isn’t that sharp, so I thought I might’ve been mistaken. But I can’t help but worry.
Homare	Perhaps it’s a psychic phenomenon?
Tasuku	That’s impossible, you know?
Azuma	Is this the first time something like this happened?
Tsumugi	Ummm…
	Ah. Come to think of it, something similar happened in the past as well.
	That’s right, it was during the time of our debut performance.
	I was curious and tried asking the Manager about it, but he said there was nothing like that in the Theatre’s seven mysteries…
Hisoka	…It’s the eighth mystery.
Tsumugi	Hmm, I wonder about that.
Tasuku	…
Azuma	Tasuku? What’s wrong?
Tasuku	No, it's just, this was around the time of our debut show, but...

	*flashback starts*
Tasuku	“How is life in the world below, Michael?”
	No, I should sound a little more friendly there…
Homare	Self practice?
	You sure are serious.
Azuma	How about you take a break soon?
	We’re going to have tea now, so how about you join us too, Tasuku?
Tasuku	No, thanks. We’re in the final stages for our rehearsals already, so I’d like to work out the details on Michael and Raphael’s relationship a bit more.
Azuma	Oh, do you? I think you’re able to feel the length they’ve known each other and the depth of their relationship enough already though.
Tasuku	No, we’ve still got a ways to go.
Azuma	A ways to go—huh?
	Fufu, that reminds me, Tsumugi said the exact same thing.
Tasuku	Eh?
Azuma	When I went out earlier, I happened to see Tsumugi concentrating reading his script.
	But when I came home, he was still in the same spot.
	I felt a little worried and called out to him, but he said he was so absorbed in his work that he lost track of the time.
	I was surprised.
	And when I said, “you’re amazing, Tsumugi”…
Tasuku	He said he “has a ways to go”, huh?
	That guy’s the same as always.
	There were lots of times he spent the whole night reading his script like that in the past… I mean, I can’t speak for others either though.
Homare	Oho.
	—I see, then isn’t that it!
Tasuku	?
Homare	I just thought that Tasuku-kun speaking about Tsumugi-kun, who is absent here, is similar to Raphael who worries over Michael.
	Just like Raphael watches over Michael with concern, why don’t you try watching over Tsumugi-kun as well?
Tasuku	Uh, I’m not sure about that…
Homare	But wouldn’t something like that serve as role study as well?
Azuma	As beginners, we may not be able to give you any advice, but isn’t it a good idea to try out lots of different things?
Tasuku	Hah… I guess so.
	Well, I’ll just try it out.
	(—Having said that, isn’t this just like a stalker?)
	(Also it looks like Tsumugi’s just tinkering with the garden—)
Tsumugi	I got ahead of myself and bought too much fertilizer.
	Let’s store the portion I won’t use today in the storage room for now.
	—Up we go, uh.
	Woahh!
Tasuku	…!
	(Wait, no, Raphael only watches over Michael.
	Should I not lend a hand here…)
Misumi	You’re staggering, Tsumugi.
	Are you ok~?
Tsumugi	Ahaha, it looks like it was heavier than I thought.
Misumi	I’ll lend a hand too~.
Tsumugi	Thank you.
Tasuku	(*Sigh*… I see, it’s like that, huh?
	This certainly does feel helpful.)
Tsumugi	…
Tasuku	(The hallway’s wet… at this rate, Tsumugi’s going to slip and fall…)
Taichi	Uwah, the floor’s soaked!
	Watch out, Tsumugi-san!
Tsumugi	Ah, you’re right.
	I didn’t notice at all. Thank you.
Omi	I’ll go get a mop right now.
	But why is there a puddle of water here…
Manager	Wahhh, I’m sorry! I spilled some water when I was cleaning earlier. And I thought I’d wipe it up but I forgot~!
Tasuku	(Phew…)
Tsumugi	*Yawn*…
Tasuku	(He’s still half-asleep…
	Does he intend to go down the stairs in that state?)
	…*Sigh*.
	Oi, Tsumu—.
Sakuya	Good morning, Tsumugi-san.
Citron	Is Tsumugi not awake yet?
	He looks drowny!
Tsuzuru	Who does?
	By that, you mean drowsy.
Tsumugi	Ah, good morning, everyone.
	Could it be you all have morning rehearsal?
Sakuya	Yes! Actually, for today’s practice—.
Citron	Ohh, my tummy’s rumbling already!
	We can talk about rehearsal over breakfast!
Tsumugi	Ahaha, right.
	Then let’s get going.
Tasuku	…
	Hah… I can’t deny it’s good for role studying, but it’s way too bad for my heart.
	Maybe I’ll stop now.
	*flashback ends*
	—So that’s why that was me.
Homare	I do feel like I gave advice like that to Tasuku-kun now that you mention it.
Azuma	I had forgotten about that until you brought it up now, but something like that happened too, hm?
Tsumugi	What the—so that was Tasuku?
Tasuku	Sorry.
Tsumugi	I was surprised, but I’m glad the mystery is solved.
Hisoka	…So what about today?
Tasuku	Eh?
Azuma	Oh yeah, it was to prepare for Raphael’s role last time. But what kind of role study was it this time?
Homare	Perhaps another childhood friend? Or a separated parent and child—or possibly the actual role of a stalker?
Tasuku	What do you mean?
Guy	Wasn’t the gaze Tsukioka felt today due to Takato’s role study as well?
Tasuku	Why would it be?
Azuma	Tasuku was the only one who came late to our drinking party, so we just thought that must be it.
Tasuku	No, today was different.
	To begin with, I was away from the dorm the whole day.
Hisoka	…Really?
Tasuku	Yeah, I went back home.
	Look here, my mom gave me this as a parting gift…
Tsumugi	It’s the stewed dish that auntie always makes…
Guy	Then that means it wasn’t possible for Takato to be the one looking at Tsukioka inside the dorm.
Homare	Then what in the world was that gaze Tsumugi-kun felt today…?
Winter troupe	…
Azuma	How about we stick a talisman up at the dorm?

Anna