Tsuzuru Minagi/Holding up a Hollyhock

The Letters Floating in the Night Sky

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2Part 3

Tsuzuru	(Phew… when I have class during 5th period, I really do head home late.)
	(Also, I’m hungry so let’s get back quickly.)
Izumi	Huh, Tsuzuru-kun?
Citron	Ohh, a surprise beating!
Tsuzuru	No, it’s a surprise meeting!
	I mean, please don’t just crash into me.
Citron	That’s what you call explosive power, right, Tsuzuru!
Izumi	Are you on your way home from uni?
Tsuzuru	Yep, that’s right.
	What were you two up to?
Citron	I was idly gossiping with a madam!
	We got so excited, it somehow ended up this late~.
Izumi	I’m on my way home from a meeting.
	Citron and I suddenly ran into each other just a moment ago.
Tsuzuru	Oh, I see.
Citron	To think I happened to meet up with both Director and Tsuzuru—today’s a good day~.
Izumi	Omi-kun sent a LIME earlier saying tonight’s dinner will be pasta.
Tsuzuru	Oh, I can’t wait.
	What kind of pasta are we having tonight?
Citron	I want to eat car banana!
Tsuzuru	It’s carbonara!
	You can’t drive a banana, you know?
Izumi	You understood that, huh!
	The original was really similar though—.
Child	Ehh, let’s buy more fireworks!
Mother	What will you do if we buy that many? You won’t be able to play with them all, and there’s going to be leftovers.
Child	It’s fine! Even if there’s lots of them, fireworks get used up really fast!
Mother	Still no. This much is enough.
Child	Eh~.
Citron	Ohh, those are… sparklers, right!
Izumi	Yeah. It feels like summer has arrived once fireworks start appearing in the stores, huh?
Citron	That’s the splendid culture of Japan~.
Izumi	Tsuzuru-kun, you have a large family, so I bet it’s really lively even if you just use sparklers.
Tsuzuru	That’s right… back when I was living at home, all my little brothers and I played with them together.
	But we couldn’t buy that many, so each person only got about 3, and we finished up pretty fast.
Izumi	I see… things like that also happen when there’s a large number of people, huh?
Citron	That’s it!
	I’ve got a great idea!
Izumi	What’s up all of a sudden?
Tsuzuru	I have a feeling he came up with something outrageous again...
Citron	Fufufu…
	It’s something really fun~!
Itaru	Has everyone finished fastening their seatbelts~?
Sakuya	Yes, no problem here!
Chikage	I’m ok.
Masumi	Director and I are all buckled up too.
Izumi	Ahaha, thanks for doing mine as well.
Citron	Alright, then let’s head to the sea~!
Tsuzuru	It’s kind of a lot going all the way to the beach just to set fireworks… isn’t it?
Citron	You’re careless and have no romance thinking that way, Tsuzuru.
Tsuzuru	Why though!?
Itaru	Senpai’s also the same with no sense of romance.
Chikage	Did you say something, Chigasaki?
Itaru	Nope, nothing.
Izumi	Doing fireworks at the sea is really exciting and makes you feel young again, huh?
Sakuya	I’m really looking forward to it too!
Masumi	Fireworks together with Director…
	Just like a burning spark, the flame of love will…
Chikage	That’s Masumi as usual.
Citron	It’s our long-awaited drive!
	Itaru, put that super hype song on!
Itaru	Ahh, this one?
Citron	Oh~, midsummer’s hotpot, yay ♪
	I’m fine with ducks and chicken and leeks~ ♪
Tsuzuru	Hotpot is way too hot for midsummer!
	Or rather, what the hell is this song!?
Masumi	…It’s so noisy.
Chikage	It’s like karaoke inside the car, huh?
Citron	It’s gonna be Citron’s one-man show until we arrive~!
Izumi	Ahaha…

Citron	First, we’ll procure the fireworks at this store!
Sakuya	They have a whole bunch of different types!
Izumi	Yeah, right.
	They even have fireworks that give off less smoke.
Tsuzuru	The product selection’s so huge, it’s a little overwhelming.
Itaru	I never thought the day would come when I stocked up on fireworks at a store that’s for extroverted people.
Chikage	I think Chigasaki should join the ranks of the party dudes.
Itaru	That’ll be a no from me.
Masumi	Look here, Director.
Izumi	Wow, it’s a heart-shaped firework!
	It’s so cute!
Masumi	It expresses my burning feelings towards you…
Citron	A sparklers set, a family-sized pack, and also stationary fountain fireworks are a must~!
Tsuzuru	Citron-san, you keep tossing more and more of them into the basket. Aren't you buying way too many?
Citron	No worries!
	If we have extras, we can just give them to everyone in the other troupes.
	…And this share also includes our gift for the Minagis.
Tsuzuru	Eh?
Sakuya	That’s a great idea!
Chikage	If you wanted, we could have called them today, you know?
Itaru	Well, the car would’ve been over capacity this time.
Tsuzuru	…So you remembered what I said before, huh, Citron-san?
Citron	Of course I did!
	How many years do you think I've been your partner?
Izumi	I hope we can light fireworks together with all the Minagis next time!
Tsuzuru	…Yeah.
Citron	We’ll leave the bill to you two, Itaru and Chikage!
Itaru	So we’re the ones paying in the end, huh?
Chikage	Well, that’s fine.
	The Minagi’s share will be on us too.
Tsuzuru	…Thank you very much.
Citron	It’s the ocean~!
Sakuya	The sea breeze feels refreshing!
Itaru	I know this is late, but is lighting fireworks allowed here?
Chikage	Of course.
	I took care of the research in advance.
Tsuzuru	You really don’t miss a thing.
Izumi	You'll find that many places have banned fireworks recently if you don’t search it up properly.
Masumi	I’ve fetched the water.
Izumi	Masumi-kun, when did you—!
	Thanks.
Masumi	I wanted to hurry up and light the fireworks with you.
Chikage	As usual.
Sakuya	Then let’s get started right away!
Itaru	Which one should we start with?
Citron	Let’s make a glorious opening with a fountain one first!
Sakuya	Sounds great!
Tsuzuru	I’ll set it around here?
	…Alright, it’s ready.
Chikage	I’ll light it then.
	Watch out, everyone.
Citron	Spring troupe’s fireworks party: START~!

Sakuya	The sparks of the fountain firework fly up really high, huh!
Citron	The excitement is bursting~!
Itaru	This flashiness suits an opening act.
Chikage	Now then, next are the sparklers.
	We have lots, so we have to keep using them and using them.
Izumi	I guess I’ll go with this spark one.
Masumi	Use this heart firework with me too.
Tsuzuru	Then I’ll start with this one that emits less smoke—.
Citron	Wait a second, Tsuzuru! Hold on!!
Tsuzuru	Woah, what is it all of a sudden?
Citron	Try using this perfect firework app Kazu taught me about earlier!
Itaru	Which one… “Let’s draw firework letters in the night sky”?
Izumi	Ah, that one! It captures the firework’s trail in the photo and makes it look like you drew letters or pictures in the air, right?
Sakuya	Kazunari-san uploaded pictures with that to instablam, right!
Masumi	I’ve seen that before too.
Citron	I heard you can get even better shots with fireworks that give off less smoke!
Chikage	Alright, Tsuzuru’s holding one of those right now, so how about he gives it a try first?
Tsuzuru	Eh, me!?
	I mean, sure, I guess.
	Wait, what should I write?
Itaru	At times like this, go with your feeling.
Izumi	I think it might look prettier if the shape is simple, rather than complex.
Tsuzuru	Simple… my feelings…
	Alright.
Citron	Ok, get ready~.
	3, 2, 1, cue!
Tsuzuru	Like this… and so.
	I wrote it!
Itaru	How’d it go? Did it turn out well?
Citron	It’s just like you said!
Izumi	Wow, it came out perfectly!
Sakuya	This is… “S” from the alphabet, right!
Chikage	Heh, the photo turned out better than I thought.
Masumi	But why “S”?
Tsuzuru	Well, that’s—.
Citron	I know!
	It’s “S” for “SUMMER”!
Tsuzuru	Um, no, that’s not it…
Masumi	Then, what?
Tsuzuru	It’s supposed to be “SPRING”—
	“S” for spring.
Citron	OH! Your Spring troupe love is amazing, Tsuzuru!
Sakuya	Tsuzuru-kun…!
	I’m so happy!
Masumi	That’s embarrassing.
Tsuzuru	I-it’s fine, isn’t it!
Izumi	Hey, guys! How about everyone continues by writing each letter so we can complete “SPRING"?
Masumi	I'll do it.
Citron	I’ll be in charge of “P”!
	We’ll leave the picture taking to you, Director~!
Chikage	Who’s going to do “R”?
Masumi	I’ll write “I”.
	For the love I dedicate to Director…
Itaru	Ohh, that's what you call a pro gamer move.
Tsuzuru	Hold on, you’re skipping over “R”!
Izumi	Alright, ok!
	I took one of everyone!
Sakuya	Thank you very much!
Masumi	Did it work?
Itaru	Which ones, which ones… yep, they’re nice, aren't they?
Citron	I'll ask Kazu to process and connect them when we get home~.
Chikage	Well, for now, let’s think about using up this huge amount of fireworks we have here.
Sakuya	Right! It’d be a waste not to after preparing so many.
Citron	Ok, we’ll fire them as fast as we can!
	Let’s go, Masumi!
Masumi	The heart firework—.
Chikage	Look, the lighter to light them is over here.
Itaru	Senpai said he’ll be in charge of lighting them, everyone.
Chikage	You do it too, Chigasaki. Here’s the lighter.
Itaru	I’m in charge of lighting them too?
	That’s fine, I guess.
Izumi	Fufu, everyone looks like they’re having fun.
Tsuzuru	Right.
Izumi	I’m glad we were able to take nice photos of the firework letters earlier~.
Tsuzuru	I never thought it’d spread like that from my “S” though.
	…But it became a nice summer memory.
CHOICE 1: You have even more memories. [+] Izumi You have even more summer memories with everyone now, right? Tsuzuru That’s true. Thinking back on it—. I have so many memories with Spring troupe, Director, and everyone at the Company that I can't even count them. Spring, summer, autumn and winter are all filled with memories. Izumi Fufu, let’s make more and more memories from now on as well. Tsuzuru Yeah!
CHOICE 2: This is just the beginning! [+] Izumi This is still just the beginning! We’re going to light fireworks with the Minagi family, aren’t we, Tsuzuru-kun? Tsuzuru Right, I’m looking forward to that too. I’m not sure if their schedules will match up, but I’ll try calling my older brothers as well. Izumi Great, I’m sure everyone will enjoy it. Tsuzuru I’ll make loads of fried rice for dinner, and then when it gets dark, we’ll light the fireworks… I can just imagine my little bros having a blast already. Izumi (Tsuzuru-kun’s making the expression of an older brother.)
Masumi	…Tsuzuru, don’t get a head start.
Tsuzuru	Huh, that’s not what I was trying to do…!
Sakuya	Let’s play with the fireworks together, Director, Tsuzuru-kun!
Citron	Quit staring from over there, you two, and come over here~!
Izumi	…Ok! Let’s go, Tsuzuru-kun.
Tsuzuru	Yeah!

Anna