Tsumugi Tsukioka/Wishing You a Romantic Trip

Train Trip for Two

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2Part 3

Kazunari	If it’s this station, then there’ll probs be fewer transfers if you go from here.
Tsumugi	I see, I see.
Izumi	(Kazunari-kun and Tsumugi-san? This talk about transfers—could they mean a train or something?)
	Are you going somewhere?
Tsumugi	Yes. I got a ticket for a local show from an acquaintance. So I’d like to go watch it, but it’s a bit far from here.
	I mean, I say it’s a local performance, but it takes 2 hours by train to get there.
Kazunari	Here’s a pic of the hall—isn’t it legit?
	It looks, like, twice as big as our theatre.
Izumi	Woah, it does!
	You can tell it’s a huge hall just from the pictures.
Kazunari	‘Cept the location seems inconvenient to get to, and it takes another, like, 30 min by bus from the nearest station.
Tsumugi	But the longer the distance is to travel, the higher your expectations are for the play, right?
Izumi	I get what you mean.
	Even that feeling of restlessness… is also fun, right?
Kazunari	This way’s the short way, but if you happen to have time, Tsumu-tsumu, then you might wanna take that route. It’ll be more roundabout though.
Tsumugi	Hm? Why’s that?
Izumi	Ah, this is… the train that travels through the famous flower fields, right?
Kazunari	Bingo! You knew about it, huh~.
Izumi	I hear them say “they're in full bloom!” on TV from time to time.
	So I got a little curious about it too.
Kazunari	I think it'd be fun to look at the flower fields from the train window, right!
	I bet it’d be supes photogenic if you snapped some phone pics~.
Tsumugi	That sounds great. I might be able to go there without much trouble if I leave the dorm a little earlier.
	I’ll make a note.
Izumi	It must be so beautiful~.
Tsumugi	…
	Hey… would you like to come with me, Director?
Izumi	Ehh? Are you sure?
Tsumugi	As long as it’s fine with you. They still have tickets available, so that acquaintance told me I was free to let them know if I wanted any more.
	I think I can get another one if I ask now.
Izumi	Really!?
	Alright then… I’ll take your word for it.
Tsumugi	Of course.
Izumi	Thank you very much!
Kazunari	How nice~! I would’ve loved to go too~.
Tsumugi	Kazu-kun’s schedule didn’t work out, huh? But you helped me figure out how to get there, so I’ll buy you something as a souvenir.
Kazunari	For realsies?
	Thanks, Tsumu-tsumu~! I'll look forward to it!

Tsumugi	Here you go. This your ticket, Director.
Izumi	Thank you very much.
	But why did you go out of your way to buy us train tickets?
Tsumugi	Actually, Kazu-kun told me about this…
	But apparently, they’re selling 1-day, unlimited ride passes for this section of the track right now.
	We can’t do it today, but when we have time, I think it would be fun to visit various different stations.
Izumi	Oh, that’s true.
	You could make as many stops as you want with an unlimited day pass.
Tsumugi	Right. And besides, it's nice to buy a ticket like this once in a while to feel like you're travelling, right?
	Alright, shall we head off then?
Izumi	(Tsumugi-san seems pretty upbeat, huh?)
	(Maybe he was looking forward to riding the train?)
Tsumugi	Travelling by train is nice and relaxing, isn’t it?
Izumi	Yeah. Riding a train might be the only way you can take your time to admire the scenery.
Tsumugi	It feels different from gazing out a car window, right?
Izumi	I guess that's because the windows here are wider…?
Tsumugi	Yeah, that might be why the scenery feels so close.
Izumi	It’s been a while since I’ve taken a long-distance train ride like this, but it’s fun, just like a trip.
	Thank you very much for inviting me.
Tsumugi	Same here, I’m happy that you came with me.
Izumi	Ah, aren’t the flower fields coming up soon?
Tsumugi	Oh, you’re right. That area over there is a different colour than the rest of the surroundings.
Izumi	Wow, they're in full bloom and super pretty!
Tsumugi	Let’s take a picture and send it to Kazu-kun.
	*click*
	…Um, it’s blurry and I couldn’t get a good shot.
Izumi	Well I took a video, so how about we send that to Kazunari-kun?
Tsumugi	A video…! I see, that way…
	Thank you very much, please do.
Izumi	It only lasted a moment, but it was beautiful, right!
Tsumugi	Yes! It was worth the detour.
	I’m tempted to get off the train for a stopover… but I’ll save that for next time.
	Ah, it’ll be our stop soon.
CHOICE 1: I’m looking forward to the play. [+] Izumi Fufu, I’m looking forward to the play. Tsumugi Yeah. Our excitement's been brewing for a while now. Izumi Being able walk up casually and watch a play is fine, but purposely travelling a long distance to see one is also nice. Tsumugi It feels as if your enjoyment matures. Izumi I… totally get that feeling. Tsumugi I hope we can perform plays that make people want to come from far away to watch as well.
CHOICE 2: The train ride was over before we knew it. [+] Izumi The train ride was over before we knew it, huh? Tsumugi I wish it could’ve lasted a little longer. Izumi Let’s invite everyone in Winter troupe for another train ride next time! Tsumugi That's a great idea. …I think Hisoka-kun will fall asleep right away though. Izumi Ahaha, train rides make everyone sleepy though, don’t they? Tsumugi We’ll have to prepare lots of marshmallows. But if we all talk together, I bet we’ll arrive at our destination in no time. Izumi Fufu, I can just imagine.
Tsumugi	Ah, it looks like we’ve arrived. Do you have your ticket?
Izumi	Yep, I’ve made sure I got it!
	(I can’t wait to see what kind of play it’ll be…)
	Hah~, that was so interesting…!
Tsumugi	It was worth coming all the way here to watch it, right?
Izumi	The contents of the play were, of course, amazing. But the stage set was elaborate and impressive too!
Tsumugi	Their staging was great.
	I wish we could also pull that off back home…
Izumi	Well, it might be possible to devise something that can be done with our theatre’s size!
	I'll see if I can come up with a way to incorporate it.
Tsumugi	It really is motivating watching the plays of other theatre companies.
	It's given me lots of different ideas I’d love to try out.
Izumi	Let’s discuss them with everyone once we get back to the dorm.
Tsumugi	Right, and before I forget—.
	*ding dong, ding dong*
Izumi	…Ah. T-the train left!?
Tsumugi	Ahaha… we were too busy chatting, huh?
	Shall we take the next train?
Izumi	(We accidentally got carried away…)
Tsumugi	Oh, it’s surprisingly crowded.
Izumi	Yeah, right. Maybe it’s because this is a different route from when we came.
Tsumugi	That’s true, but it’s almost rush hour, so…
Izumi	It sucks that we missed the earlier train, huh…
	I’m really sorry about that.
Tsumugi	Oh, no, I was also too excited talking with you…
	So I apologize as well.
	…Ah. …Um, you can take my seat here if you’d like.
Elderly person	Ahh… excuse me. Thank you.
Tsumugi	Not at all.
Izumi	Tsumugi-san, I’m alright, so you can sit instead.
Tsumugi	Oh, no, I’m fine just standing.
Izumi	Are you sure?
Tsumugi	Yes. Please keep sitting, Director.
Izumi	(It's been a long trip, so Tsumugi-san must be tired too...)

Tsumugi	The train cleared out after we passed a big station, huh?
Izumi	It was tough since it was a bit crowded.
Tsumugi	But I don’t think it was that bad compared to the packed trains Itaru-kun always complains about.
Izumi	Yeah, sometimes on the days Itaru-san takes the train to work, he comes home looking like his soul left his body.
	Ah, Tsumugi-san, this seat here is free now.
Tsumugi	Alright, then please excuse me…
Izumi	The time just flew by on our way there, probably because of our anticipation. But it feels longer on the way back since we’re all tuckered out, huh?
Tsumugi	Yeah. But it kind of feels like we just took a short vacation, so I like this feeling too.
Izumi	(He’s right, it does feel like we’re on the way home from a trip.)
	(It’s like a mixture of lingering fun and pleasant exhaustion…)
	*Yawn*… getting rocked by the train like this makes you kind of sleepy, huh?
Tsumugi	…
Izumi	Tsumugi-san?
Tsumugi	…Zzz, zzz.
Izumi	(Tsumugi-san fell asleep…)
	(So he really was tired after all.)
	(There’s still a while before we get off, so I’ll just leave him be.)
	Hm…
	(Where are we…?)
	*ding dong, ding dong*
	(Eh… Veludo Station… as in our stop!?)
	W-we overslept…!
	T-Tsumugi-san—.
Tsumugi	Zzz, zzz…
Izumi	(Tsumugi-san’s still asleep…)
	(I feel kind of bad about waking him up since he’s sleeping so peacefully…)
	Ah, oh well…
	(We’ve already missed our stop anyways…)
	(Plus, it might not be too bad getting swayed along with the train a little longer like this.)
	*Yaaawn*…
	(I’m feeling sleepy again…)
Tasuku	…So that’s the reason you ended up calling me?
Tsumugi	Sorry, Tasuku…
Izumi	I never thought we’d keep sleeping until the last stop…
Tasuku	Good grief, you two… I’m not a free taxi, you know?
Tsumugi	Now, now. By the way, the play we watched today was incredibly interesting.
	I heard they’re going to perform it again at a different location next time, so you should go too, Tasuku.
	I’ll pay for your ticket as an apology for today.
Izumi	I’ll also cover half.
Tasuku	…Well, if you put it that way.
Tsumugi	Let’s all go together, Director.
	…By train again.
Izumi	Sure! I'm looking forward to it.

Anna