Tsumugi Tsukioka/Bright Star of Blooming

My Performance Memories ~Tsumugi~

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Guy	Apologies for the wait.
Tsumugi	Thank you very much.
Guy	Everyone has their drinks now, I take it?
Azuma	In that case, shall we start?
Winter Troupe	Cheers!
Azuma	Speaking of, we’ll be having the screening talk show for “Yearn for the Angel” soon, right?
Tsumugi	Indeed. We’ll be able to talk about the performance with the guests... I’m excited for it.
Azuma	Since it’s coming up, I figured I’d bring these for the occasion.
Tasuku	Tarot cards?
Azuma	Back when we had the screening event for “Sympathy for the Angel”, I had Tsumugi pull a card from the deck. I thought it’d be interesting to have him pull again this time too.
Tsumugi	You were the one who brought that deck before too, weren’t you, Azuma-san?
	I doubt I’ll be able to pull Michael again the way I did last time though…
Hisoka	If it’s you, Tsumugi, you might be able to.
Azuma	Fufu. Don’t think too hard about it. Just draw one at your leisure.
	Let’s give this a shuffle and… Here.
Tsumugi	Then I pick… This one.
Guy	That’s…
Tasuku	Raphael.
Homare	Considering the story of the show, it’s quite profound, is it not?
Hisoka	Knew it. Tsumugi’s draw luck is amazing.
Tsumugi	I suppose this means Raphael will be watching over me the way he did in the sequel’s story.
Tasuku	Perhaps so.
Tsumugi	It’s been a little while since we wore our outfits. Try not to get the wings snatched onto anything.
Tasuku	You were the one who was prone to accidents with his wings back during our debut show’s screening event.
Tsumugi	Ahaha… I guess that’s true…
Homare	Fret not! This feels like second nature to me now! Just watch my movements!
	Feast your ey—EIIE…!?
Hisoka	Arisu’s the dangerous one this time.
Tasuku	Get it together— we haven’t started.
Homare	Hrmph…..
Tsumugi	But the wings’ movements did flow beautifully.
Homare	Thank you, Tsumugi-kun. They did, didn’t they?
Izumi	Everyone! Please start getting ready!
Tsumugi	Got it!
Tsumugi	… Michael wasn’t an angel this time, so not having any wings to go along with my outfit was a little sad for me.
	Of course, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun to explore how Michael walks through his new life as a human.
Hisoka	Speaking of… Tsumugi, didn’t you borrow Tasuku’s pair of wings before?
Homare	Ohh, I’m certain I’ve seen him do just that before!
Tasuku	… I did lend it to him for that one time.
	While we were in the middle of the show’s season run, I could feel Tsumugi’s eyes on me. He looked like he wanted to try wearing the wings himself.
Tsumugi	When Tasuku asked if I wanted to, I wanted to turn down the offer at first… But I eventually let my eagerness to try it win me over.
	After consulting Yuki-chan about it, I got to wear it backstage, even just for a bit.
Tasuku	You seemed really pleased with yourself the moment you wore it, though.
Tsumugi	It’s been so long for me, after all. Plus thanks to you supporting me, I didn’t fall over from the weight as much as I’d expected to.
Homare	… Hrm?!
Hisoka	… What’s up, Arisu?
Homare	While we were in our break room before this, I stumbled while fiddling with my wings. And Tasuku-kun didn’t even care enough to save me from my fumble!
Tasuku	Well, I just happened to be right beside Tsumugi when that happened to him. You were nowhere near me in the green room earlier.
Hisoka	Either way, I really do think wings suit Tsumugi a lot.
Tsumugi	Fufu, thank you. The next time I get the chance to wear them again, I hope I’ll be able to keep them on without stumbling.

Izumi	Lastly, we just need to do our little photo shoot over here.
Tsumugi	Kazu-kun taught me how to do this heart pose here… Uhm. How does it look?
Tasuku	… What are you doing with your fingers?
Tsumugi	These are wings.
Tasuku	It’s a little… Distorted, don’t you think?
Tsumugi	No? I don’t think so, at least.
Hisoka	Director, you should hurry and take the pic.
Homare	They’ll be at it forever if you let them go like this.
Izumi	A-Alright! Tsumugi-san, let’s go ahead at take the shot!
	*SHUTTER NOISE*
Izumi	What do you think?
Tasuku	It doesn’t look too bad.
Hisoka	A heart with wings. Cute.
Homare	Ooh, they’re wonderful indeed!
Tsumugi	Fufu, that’s good to hear. I hope the guests will be pleased with it too.
Tsumugi	(... The screening event was so much fun. It’d be nice if we get the chance to do it again someday.)
Tasuku	I’m turning off the lights now.
Tsumugi	Ah, alright. Good night.
Tasuku	Night.
Tsumugi	…?
	(Wait a minute. This cafe is… This must be a dream then… Right?)
???	…….
Tsumugi	(Huh? That person sitting at the table on the terrace… Is that Michael?)
	*WIND BLOWS*
Michael	Ah——
Tsumugi	(The wind blew his papers over here—)
	*PAPER RUSTLES*
Tsumugi	(... I should hand these back over to him.)
	Here. It seems like flew over my way.
Michael	Sorry for the trouble. And thank you. These are very important documents to me.
Tsumugi	No problem. As long as none of them are missing from you.
	(I wonder if it’s fine to keep talking to him like this…)
	… Uhm, may I take a little bit of your time?
Michael	…??
Tsumugi	Ah… Sorry for the sudden request. It’s just that, I feel too idle being here by myself…
	And I can’t help but feel like it was more than coincidence for your papers to be carried by the wind towards my way… I was hoping we could have a little chat, that’s all.
Michael	… Then, as thanks for not throwing away my papers, shall we talk over a drink?
Tsumugi	… Thank you very much. I’ll take you up on your offer.
Tsumugi	This coffee is delicious.
Michael	I’m glad to hear it’s to your liking. It’s actually fairly popular.
Tsumugi	(What a peaceful smile… This must be him after he had met Raphael.)
	By the way, what are you studying for right now?
Michael	Eh?
Tsumugi	The table is filled with reference books and the sort…
Michael	Ah… Right. I’m studying to become a doctor, you see.
Tsumugi	(This expression—)
	(I see. Derick has passed, and Raphael has already parted ways with him— That’s where this Michael is right now.)
	… I’m sure you’ll become a great doctor.
Michael	Thank you very much. I’m working my hardest to become just that.
	Somewhere, an angel and my mentor are watching over me. When I meet them again, I hope it will be with my head held high——
Tasuku	… Hey, Tsumugi. Wake up already.
Tsumugi	Mhm…….
	…Tasuku…?
Tasuku	You’ve got rehearsals for the theatre you’re guesting in today. You asked me to wake you up early, didn’t you?
Tsumugi	…!! That’s right…!!
	Sorry— thanks for waking me up.
Tasuku	You better start prepping now so you don’t leave late.
Tsumugi	Right… Oh. You know, I had a dream about meeting Michael just now.
Tasuku	You met Michael?
Tsumugi	He’s doing his best in his studies towards becoming a good doctor.
	He’s moving forward in the life he’s living right now, in his own way. Even if it was just a dream, it was reassuring to see him like that.
Tasuku	… That’s good to hear. Then I’m sure that Raphael is still watching over him from up above, just as he always does.
Tsumugi	… Mh-hmm. He must be.

Dita