Tenma Sumeragi/The Loyal Comrade

A Perfect Disguise

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Kumon	Pheeeew! I feel alive again!
Yuki	It's just sparkling juice. You're overreacting.
Muku	This crepe is amazing! It's overflowing with fruits!
Kazunari	Thankies so much for driving us all the way here, Sumii~!!
Misumi	You're welcome, Kazu~ By the way, the ice cream you bought for me is so tasty!
Tenma	…Mhm. This meat bun's good too; it's so packed with filling.
Yuki	You sure you don't wanna just take off those sunglasses while eating? I can see them fogging up from the steam.
Tenma	What're you talking about? This is the disguise I use to avoid blowing my cover. As if I'd let a little steam bother me.
Kumon	Tenma-san is a really big celeb, after all~
Kazunari	Oh yeah, isn't the role you're doing for the next performance also someone who wears sunglasses?
Tenma	Yeah. I'm sure that I'll be wearing sunglasses all the time when I'm up on stage too.
Muku	So is it like... wearing glasses is a role study on its own?
Tenma	You could say that.
Yuki	Sounds like an excuse to me.
Enma	Bottomline is, it's not something I've gotten used to doing on stage, so I may as well start now; better late than never.
Misumi	You're performing with Kumon this time, right~? I'll prepare lots of triangles for you guys!
Muku	Good luck, Kyu-chan!
Kumon	Yeah!
Tenma	(...Speaking of, there's a new pair of sunglasses I wanted to get. Where's the floor map—)
	*FOOTSTEPS*
Woman A	Uhm… You're Sumeragi Tenma-san, right?
Tenma	I am.
Both Women	Waaah~!!
Woman B	See, just like I said!
Woman A	Uhm, would it be alright to ask for a handshake?
Tenma	Of course.
Woman A	Thank you so much!! I'll be continuing to support you!!
	*FOOTSTEPS WALK AWAY*
Woman B	Even with the sunglasses, you can still tell it was him~
Woman A	That's Tenma-kun for you!
Kazunari	…You heard them, Tenten? Your popularity's just a whole other league!!
Tenma	Hmph. No big deal for me.
Yuki	What're you looking so proud for?
Tenma	W-What about it! You got a problem?!
Tenma	(... Alright. Maybe I should rewatch the part of the anime we just covered in rehearsals.)
Kumon	—Ah! There he is! Tenma-san!
Kazunari	We got him now~!
Tenma	Huh? Why are all of you here?
Misumi	I got snacks from the troupe I guested in~ We should share them together~
Tenma	You guys can go dig in first. I'll have some later.
Muku	…Were you planning to do some work with your tablet?
Tenma	Nah, I was just about to watch some "Banana Fish."
Kumon	Then let's all watch it together! I was just thinking of doing that later myself.
Kazunari	Count me in on that! We can all just watch while having snacks together, right?
Misumi	I wanna watch too! I wanna see the anime you and Kumon are going to perform for~
Muku	The original work was a manga, wasn’t it? I wanna see it too.
Yuki	Aren't we gonna have a hard time fitting everyone in this small space just to watch?
Tenma	… Yeah, let's move first.
Ash	"……"
Shorter	"Ash."
Ash	"… What up, Shorter."
Shorter	"Rare to see ya up so early. Somethin' up?"
Ash	"Nothing. Just went to see old man Dino."
Shorter	"So I'm guessin' you butted heads with Marvin again."
	"Be careful with him, he's vindictive."
	"And he's gay— with a thing for green-eyed blonds."
Ash	"Pha!"
	*MOTOR REVS*
Ash	"Stop worrying so much, Shorter, or you'll go bald. Laters."
	*MOTOR DRIVES AWAY*
Shorter	"I'll sure go bald, huh!”
Tenma	Let's stop it here for now.
Muku	… Phew. I got so immersed in watching. My heart hasn't stopped pounding.
Misumi	The guy you're playing is Shorter, right, Tenma~?
Tenma	Yeah. He's the gang group boss of Chinatown, and Ash's close friend.
Kazunari	A guy who's tough in fights is a man's idol after all ☆
Kumon	Like a guy you'd call aniki!
Muku	The trusting relationship he has with Ash is great, too.
Yuki	Ash and Shorter, played by Banri and you… You guys can handle that?
Tenma	'Course we can. I've been talking with Banri-san about it.
Kazunari	I guess if there's anything to worry about… What about the sunglasses?
Tenma	What do you mean?
Kazunari	You remember how you still got found out as "Sumeragi Tenma" even with the glasses on?
Tenma	Well, yeah. When you have a status like mine, my presence would be difficult to hide.
Kazunari	But… Wouldn't that NOT work out for you as Shorter?!
Tenma	Huh?
Yuki	Oh right. Isn't there supposed to be a scene where no one saw through his disguise?
Muku	So… If Tenma-kun wants to completely get into his role, he has to get better at disguising himself?
Tenma	—...
Kumon	So like… Hiding his aura? But how?
Misumi	Let's all try to wear sunglasses~
Kazunari	Oh! Are we gonna compete on who's the best at disguising themselves?
Tenma	……

Customer A	Thanks for the meal.
Tenma	Thank you very muuuuch!
	*DOOR CLOSES*
Tenma	(I'm surprised my disguise hasn't let up yet.)
	(Still surprised with how it came to this…)
	—— —— —— ——FLASHBACK—— —— —— ——
Tenma	…...
Izumi	Ah, Tenma-kun! I thought I'd find you here.
	I just wanted to let you know; I was consulting with Banri-kun about our rehearsal schedules, so make sure to check it when you can, okay?
Tenma	Alright…
Izumi	… Is something wrong, Tenma-kun? If there's anything bothering you about the next performance, I can lend you an ear.
Tenma	Well… I guess there is something bothering me.
	You know how people can still usually tell it's me when I try to disguise myself?
Izumi	Yeah. With how much of a popular figure you are, though, it can't be helped…
Tenma	But since I'll be performing Shorter, I was told that I should try to brush up my disguising skills.
	Shorter had a scene in the series where he was in a cover-up, wasn't he? And he never got exposed.
Izumi	I see where you're getting at…
	… In that case, would you like to test yourself if you'll get found out in a disguise?
Tenma	What do you mean?
Izumi	You see, someone from another troupe introduced me to an owner of this Chinese restaurant.
Tenma	Huh? A Chinese restaurant?
Izumi	It's a store within Veludo Town, so I think they'll be willing to give us a hand if you'd like to use it for a role study.
	Let me try and contact them, okay?
Tenma	S-Sure…
	—— —— —— ——FLASHBACK END—— —— —— ——
Tenma	(I’ll have to say, I was taken aback after being told that I'd be doing a part-time job out of blue…)
Customer B	Excuse meeee! Can I have an additional order of fried rice?
Tenma	One order of fried rice! Coming right up!
	Boss, one plate of fried rice please!
Owner	Got it!
Tenma	(It's looking like there's not a single customer who's realized the the one and only Sumeragi Tenma is here with them. Alright, then at this pace—)
	*DOOR OPENS*
Azami	I'm staaaarving…
Taichi	Then we should go eat our hearts out today!
Tenma	—!!!
	(Why are they here…!!)
	(Wait, don't these two go eat out at Chinese restaurants a lot…?!)
Taichi	Excuse meeee!
Tenma	—!! Yes!
Taichi	One order of char siu bowl, with marinated egg please!
Azami	One wonton bowl.
Taichi	Oh, and some gyoza! You'll eat some too, right, Aachan?
Azami	Sure.
Tenma	One char siu bowl, additional marinated egg. One wonton bowl. And two orders of gyozas. Coming right up!
	(...It didn't seem like those two had a clue it was me at all.)
Tenma	(Getting paid for doing a one-day part-time isn't so bad, actually.)
	(I was worried what was gonna happen when Taichi and Azami showed up, but they left the store without realizing anything. Same goes for the rest of the customers.)
	… Mission accomplished, I'll say.
Tenma	I'm home.
Sakuya	Welcome home, Tenma-kun. We're having Chinese cuisine tonight!
Taichi	I could totally stuff myself silly with Chinese food anytime!
Azami	Just how much do you like the stuff…
Taichi	You say that, but you're still eating anyway, Aachan.
Azami	I never said I wouldn't be eating. It's good food.
Tenma	(... Today's a Chinese-food kind of day, I guess.)
Omi	Hm? Did you not have catering at your workplace, Tenma? I mean, I still figured that I'd prepare you something else, instead of more Chinese food, so…
Tenma	Huh?
Taichi	Weren't you doing part-time at a Chinese restaurant today, Ten-chan?
Tenma	HAH?! Y-You mean you realized it was me…?!
Azami	Well duh.
Tenma	But I swear the rest of the customers couldn't even tell…
Taichi	Aw, come on! Don't just compare us to any regular ol’ customer~!
Azami	Worth seeing a rare sight, though.
Tenma	Y-You guys should've just said something if you knew…!!

Dita