Yuki Rurikawa/Étoile Boy

MANKAI Bears

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Yuki	Hmm... What would a decoration that can be individualistic but also Christmas-y be like...
Misumi	I wanna make a Sankaku-kun tree! If we're talking about triangle decorations, I have a lot of them~!
Hisoka	Marshmallow decorations?
Juza	That sounds delicious...
Citron	In my country, we hang real Santa Clauses on our Christmas trees!
Guy	Is that how it was?
Tsuzuru	What is this, a horror movie?!
Yuki	All of those aren't happening.
	*ding-dong, ding-dong*
Izumi	Yuki-kun, they said they were your friend.
Yuki	? I wonder who it is.
	What is it?
Classmate	I-I'll let you have this, Rurikawa!
Yuki	A stuffed bear?
Classmate	I-I just happened to win it at the game center, and I didn't have any use for it... You like this kinda stuff, right?!
Yuki	Huh... Well, if you're giving it to me, I'll take it. Thanks.
Classmate	W-Well then, see you later!
Yuki	Well, the bear was cute, so I accepted it.
Citron	A sly person's Christmas present!
Tsuzuru	You mean 'shy.'
Azuma	Haha, going out of their way to bring it all the way to the dorms is cute.
Misumi	They're Yuki's fan for sure~.
Yuki	Hmm...
Guy	What's wrong? You're not happy with it?
Yuki	That's not it...
Juza	I think something edible would've been better.
Hisoka	Marshmallows would've been better.
Tsuzuru	You guys are only saying that because you personally would've wanted to eat those things!
Yuki	...
	(This bear is cute, but... It feels like something's missing.)
???	Yuki-san, Yuki-san.
Yuki	Hm...? I'm pretty sure I just fell asleep, though?
Stuffed Bear	Yuki-san, wake up. There's something I want to ask you.
Yuki	... A dream, huh. Good night.
Stuffed Bear	Huh?! W-Wait a second!
Yuki	I don't wanna pointlessly use my stamina up in a dream, though.
Stuffed Bear	I have a request! It's a small one, so just listen for a bit, please!
Yuki	Sigh, what a pain... So, what is it?
Stuffed Bear	I want you to make me cute!
Yuki	Cute?
Stuffed Bear	It might be weird that I'm a boy yet want to be cute, but...
Yuki	You're a boy, huh.
Stuffed Bear	Yeah.
Yuki	——So that's why I felt like there was something missing.
Stuffed Bear	Will you do this for me?
Yuki	I will. I'll make you the cutest ever.
Stuffed Bear	Thank you! ... Also, I have one more request.
Yuki	What? Even though you said it would be short, you're a pretty greedy bear for asking for something else. What else do you want?
Stuffed Bear	... Being alone makes me sad.
Yuki	——.
	Got it. Wait for a bit longer.

Banri	Man~. That acting was so unique I still don't get it.
Friend	Haha, that teacher's classes are pretty unique.
Banri	Well, we can figure out new stuff thanks to that, too, though.
Friend	That's true.
Banri	... Isn't it kinda noisy?
Student A	That girl standing by the gate was so cute.
Student B	I wonder if she's someone's little sister?
Friend	Huh~ They're saying there's a cute girl. Let's go take a look, too!
Banri	The hell? I ain't interested. Actually, this whole beautiful girl standing by the gate stuff sounds like it came outta a shoujo manga.
	... Huh? I just got a LIME from somebody.
Yuki What time are you finishing up at your college? I'm standing close by
Banri	... You serious?
Friend	What's the matter?
Yuki	Good work out there.
Banri	Don't give me that, why're you here.
Yuki	Come with me to the arcade for a bit.
Banri	What?
	Ain't it pretty weird that you wanna be at an arcade?
Yuki	Kinda. Hey, you can win at a crane game, right?
Banri	Well, yeah, it's easy as pie for me.
Yuki	I want you to get me a bear that's just like this one.
Banri	This one? Wait just a sec.
	Here ya go.
Yuki	Thanks.
	Alright, now get me 24 more.
Banri	The hell?!
Yuki	The money's coming out of the theater's expenses and my own pocket, so you don't have to worry about that.
Banri	I don't give a damn about the money, but what're you gonna do with so many bears?
Yuki	I thought I'd use them as decorations for Christmas.
	I want 26 of them no matter what, but I have no idea how much money it'll cost if I try to get them myself.
Banri	Ah... I get it. Leave it to me.
Izumi	I'm home~.
	—Wait, what's with all of this?! There are so many stuffed bears...
Yuki	I had Banri get them for me. They're going to be used as Christmas decorations.
Izumi	As you'd expect of Yuki-kun, you're even wrapping green and red ribbons around all of them. They're so Christmas-y and cute.
	(Huh, this bear is wearing headphones. And there's a beauty mark next to its mouth? And on this bear's shoulder, a bird is...)
	(——Ah!)
	Are these perhaps all the members of the theater?
Yuki	... If I just made them Christmas-y, that would be boring, right. Plus, I thought having just one would be pretty drab.
Izumi	Yuki-kun...
Yuki	I'll make sure your bear is holding some curry, so wait patiently!
Izumi	Hehe, thanks, Yuki-kun! I'm looking forward to it!

Kou