Izumi | Hurry, hurry! |
Sakyo | You’re going to trip if you run like that! |
| Yukio-san told us to hold hands when we go outside, remember? |
Izumi | Ah, I like this! |
Sakyo | Listen when people are talking—. |
Izumi | I’m thirsty! |
Sakyo | Then do you want to drink some ramune? |
Izumi | What’s that? |
Sakyo | You’ve never had ramune? |
Izumi | Uh-uh. How do you open it? |
Sakyo | You push down, like this.... |
| *Pop* |
Izumi | Wah! That’s so cool! It’s a glass ball! It’s so pretty and shiny! |
Sakyo | Make sure you don’t spill it. |
Izumi | Itadakimasu! |
| !?!?!?!? |
Sakyo | Hey, are you okay? |
Izumi | It’s fizzy and yummy! |
Sakyo | Drink it slowly. |
Izumi | What snack should I buy~. |
Sakyo | Don’t drop the allowance Yukio-san gave you. |
Izumi | I want chocolate. And a rice cracker too. |
Sakyo | Your allowance is limited, so make sure you think about what you want to buy. |
Izumi | Ah! |
Sakyo | ? |
Izumi | I want this! |
Sakyo | A paper fortune[1]? That isn’t a snack. |
Izumi | But I wanna try! |
Sakyo | Yukio-san gave us allowance to buy snacks; you shouldn’t be wasting your money on this, etc., etc.... |
| It’s not even going to satisfy you.... Fortunes are written carelessly anyway. |
Izumi | That’s not true! If you hold on to your paper fortune, your dreams will come true. |
Sakyo | That’s false. |
Izumi | It’s true! I wanna do it! |
Sakyo | Fine... Don’t say you don’t want it later, okay? |
Izumi | Yaaay! |
Sakyo | Which one are you choosing? |
Izumi | Umm.... This one! |
| I wonder what it says~. |
|
Sakyo | “You can go to Mars. 10 points. Excellent Luck”...? What? |
Izumi | Yay! I got excellent luck! That’s the best one, right!? |
Sakyo | Yeah, but are you happy with this? |
| (Like I thought. It really is a waste of money.) |
Izumi | You should do it too, onii-chan! |
Sakyo | I’m fine. |
Izumi | Come on, come on, hurry! |
Sakyo | Sigh.... |
| Fine. I’ll take this one. |
Izumi | What does it say? |
Sakyo | ..... |
| |
Izumi | A collab!? |
Banri | Yeah. My friend from the film department said he wanted to shoot a short film for the film competition at our school. |
Tsuzuru | You can collaborate with a theater for a school competition? |
Kazunari | Hm~, I think it depends on the person. |
Banri | This guy said the students at school were too young for his image of the film—that’s why he’s looking for actors. |
Izumi | What kind of film is it? |
Kazunari | He doesn’t have a concrete idea yet—he said he wanted to consult us and figure stuff out. |
| He’s good at VFX. Looks like he wants to shoot a traditional Japanese-style film this time around. |
Izumi | Huh~? |
Sakyo | If we cooperate, that means we’ll be spending a fair amount of time on this film, too. Is he a reliable guy? |
Banri | Well, I don’t think that’s an issue. |
Sakyo | That’s not a very clear answer. |
Banri | Well... He’s got a pretty unique character. He’s not a bad guy, though. |
Izumi | What do you mean, unique character? |
Kazunari | Umm... Kinda spiritual? |
| He’s been watching our shows since the sixth round of plays, and he said he really wanted to create a film with our actors. |
Izumi | A collab, huh. That sounds fun. |
| (But I don’t know what Sakyo-san will say....) |
Sakyo | .... |
| We can’t demand money from a student. If we’re going to collaborate, we need it to be in a form that will benefit the troupe as much as possible. |
Kazunari | Benefit, huh.... |
Banri | Well, I guess that’s right. |
Izumi | Hmm.... We’ve never participated in filmworks as a troupe. |
| It would be a good experience in that sense. |
Tsuzuru | If we make it public, it could be an advertisement for the troupe? |
Izumi | Ah, you’re right! |
| If we can make it the promotion video for our next mix play, it’ll definitely benefit us! |
| How about we link the contents of the short film with the plot of our next mix play, and use it as a promotion for the performance? |
Sakyo | A promotion, huh.... |
Kazunari | Hey, I like that! It might be a pretty rich advertisement! |
Banri | Videos attract a lot of attention, after all. |
Sakyo | But can we decide the contents of the film? |
Kazunari | He said he’d leave it to us so long as it was traditional Japanese style. |
Sakyo | He’s good at VFX, right? What kinda story meshes traditional Japanese style with VFX? |
Izumi | Uh, umm.... Tsuzuru-kun, do you have any ideas? |
Tsuzuru | Ah~. I’ve actually had an idea in mind for a while. Give me a second. |
| |
Tsuzuru | Here we—go. |
Izumi | Woah, what’s all this? |
Tsuzuru | Research materials. |
Sakyo | Onmyoji[2]...? |
Tsuzuru | I’ve never written a traditional Japanese-style fantasy, so I was actually just thinking of a plot. |
Kazunari | I see, if it’s onmyoji you can use tons of VFX! |
Banri | It’s perfect for the theme. |
Izumi | Yup yup, sounds good! |
Tsuzuru | Alright. So once I’m done with this script, we can meet up with him? |
Sakyo | Sounds good. |
Kazunari | I’ll get in touch! |
Tsuzuru | By the way, what should we do about the cast members? |
Izumi | The people who have yet to participate in a mix play are: Citron-kun, Chikage-san, Kumon-kun, Juza-kun, Sakyo-san. |
| And Azuma-san, Hisoka-san, and Guy-san. Of these members, who would look good in traditional Japanese style.... |
Banri | Azuma-san is the first one who comes to mind. |
Sakyo | Agreed. He gives off a traditional Japanese impression. |
Kazunari | You too, Furuche-san! |
Sakyo | Me...? |
Izumi | Azuma-san and Sakyo-san both look good in Japanese clothing. |
Tsuzuru | Meanwhile Citron-san and Guy-san look foreign. |
Banri | The exact opposite. |
Tsuzuru | Oh, but that might actually be good.... Furuichi-san, Yukishiro-san, Citron-san, Guy-san.... Yeah. |
| I think I’ve got it! |
Izumi | Really? Then I’ll leave it to you! |
Tsuzuru | Yeah! |
| |
Sakyo’s mother | Welcome home. |
Sakyo | ...I’m home. |
Sakyo’s mother | I think the two of them will be home soon. |
Sakyo | No, I’ll be headed home once I’ve handed you everything. |
Sakyo’s mother | Don’t say that. You should wait for them. They were really looking forward to seeing you for the first time in a while. |
Sakyo | ...Here. Gifts. For father, Japanese sake. For you, makeup. For Miyako, sweets. |
Sakyo’s mother | This is so much. We don’t need all this. |
Sakyo | The old man Izumida told me to give it to you. |
Sakyo’s mother | My, he’s always so kind. Thank you. Give him my gratitude. |
Sakyo | Yeah. |
Sakyo’s mother | How’s the troupe doing lately? Are you busy? |
Sakyo | The Autumn Troupe play ended its run, so we’re not that busy now. |
Sakyo’s mother | Hyodo-kun was really amazing in the sixth play. His acting was so true to nature—it made me cry. |
Sakyo | Yeah... He really grew through the run of that performance. |
Sakyo’s mother | When’s your next play? |
Sakyo | Right now we’re doing a series of mix plays that combine members across troupes. It looks like I’ll be in the next mix play. |
Sakyo’s mother | Isn’t that exciting! Make sure you invite me! |
Sakyo | ...If I remember. |
Sakyo’s mother | Fine. If you don’t invite me, I’ll ask Hyodo-kun to get me tickets. |
Sakyo | Why do you know his number? |
Sakyo’s mother | Fufu. Isn’t it nice? He’s my oshi men[3]! |
Sakyo | Sigh... Where do you get all these words from? |
| ...So, when are they coming home? |
Sakyo’s mother | He always comes home around six. Miyako is off on her school trip, so she should be home soon. |
Sakyo | School trip? |
Sakyo’s mother | Yes, they went to Hokkaido. |
| ...I’m sorry I couldn’t send you on your school trips in middle school and high schoolIn Japan, families have to pay for their children’s school trips. |
Sakyo | It’s fine. I didn’t have any friends, and I didn’t want to go, either. |
Sakyo’s mother | ...Is that so? |
Sakyo | Plus, the trips were to Kyoto, and I wasn’t interested. |
| (The so-called “grown-up” school trip I attended with the troupe was far better.) |
Sakyo’s mother | Oh, but Kyoto is lovely. You can visit all the shrines and temples, and the spring cherry blossoms and autumn foliage are obviously lovely—but so are the fresh greens in early summer. |
| You might be able to enjoy it more as an adult than as a student. |
Sakyo | ...Well, we might visit Kyoto eventually on a tour. |
Sakyo’s mother | Oh, that’s right. You might not remember it, but we lived in Kyoto for about a month before. |
Sakyo | Eh? |
Sakyo’s mother | You were so young; I don’t think you’d remember it. |
| Because, you see... He was born in Kyoto. |