| Izumi | Sakyo-san, regarding this line over here, won’t it balance out better if you act more held back? |
| Sakyo | Ahh, that’s true… |
| Izumi | I’ve also been thinking about adding more contrasts so that the comparison can be shown better. |
| Sakyo | It’s fine if it makes it easier for the person to carry out. |
| Izumi | …… |
| (Everyone has been acting weirdly recently, I wonder if it affected Sakyo-san too? He doesn’t seem to be as motivated as usual.) |
| (He doesn’t reprimand everyone like how he used to do so at first anymore…I have a bad feeling.) |
| Well then, let’s end here today. |
| Juza | Good work today. |
| Banri | Good work— |
| Sakyo | Sorry but I have business to tend to tomorrow so I’ll only be joining you all for the night practice. |
| Taichi | Eh! |
| Omi | That means… |
| Juza | …… |
| Sakyo | What? |
| Banri | …Nothing. |
| Sakyo | …… |
| Izumi | (As I thought, everyone’s acting strangely towards Sakyo-san.) |
| (It’s as if everyone’s treating him gingerly…) |
| (Their performance will be affected if this goes on. First and foremost, I should go ask Sakyo-san if something had happened between them all…) |
| |
| Sakyo | …… |
| Izumi | (Oh, there he is——) |
| Sakyo | …… |
| Izumi | (He seems to be deep in thought about something.) |
| …… |
| Sakyo | …… |
| Izumi | …… |
| Sakyo | …I’ve never thought that the day would come where I’d be standing on the MANKAI Company stage as the lead actor. |
| Even when I’m practicing right now, there are still times where I doubt whether it’s real. Whether this is all just a dream or a delusion. |
| Izumi | It’s the unquestionable reality. Please get yourself together. |
| Sakyo | …This isn’t like me at all, huh. |
| It’s a chance granted to me by all the members of the Autumn Troupe after all. I definitely want to make it a success for sure. |
| Well, standing on this theater’s stage was already something I thought that was out of my reach. To think that I’m the lead actor now… |
| Izumi | (His feelings about this hasn’t changed from the past. His responsibility and enthusiasm as the chairman too…) |
| (If that’s so then the ones who’ve changed are…) |
| We have to fix the atmosphere here in order to make it a success too. |
| Sakyo | That’s right… |
| Izumi | (I absolutely want to make this time’s play a success too.) |
| (I’m pretty sure everyone feels the same way. If so then I have to do something about it…) |
| (I can’t let everything we’ve done up till now go down the drain.) |
| Do you have any clue what led to everyone’s change in attitude? You guys didn’t fight, right? |
| Sakyo | I don’t remember us having a fight with each other. Or rather, it wouldn’t be a fight at all if I was pitched against them all. |
| But well, they might have some things they need to sort out between their lives, regular practices and the like. |
| Izumi | I see… |
| (The most troubling thing is not knowing the reason behind this all…) |
| Sakyo | I suppose I had a phase like this when I was around that age too. There are also times where I don’t understand what the younger ones are thinking as well. |
| Though that started at a much younger age for me. |
| Izumi | Sakyo-san… |
| Sakyo | Not just about age. There’s too much of a gap regarding the environment I grew up in and how I was brought up as a yakuza compared to them. |
| Izumi | (It’s unusual for him to be worrying over his age and job like this…) |
| Sakyo | Even so, I still intend to face them outright and show them how I feel about things. |
| Though that might just be a wish of mine. |
| If it’s them were talking about, I feel like they’ll be able to overcome it no matter how tough or hard it may be. |
| But it might be because I’ve been trying to make them adapt to my requirements with the wrong method. |
| I thought that if I went along with it that way, I wouldn’t mind dishing out some praise every so often. However, when I look back at past practices now, all I’ve ever been doing is saying strict and harsh things. |
| All my feelings regarding this play are way too strong, so I guess it will only end up as a burden for them. |
| Izumi | It wouldn’t, not at all! |
| Everyone’s doing their best to respond to you, who is more enthusiastic about this than ever. So I think that this is a great influence for them. |
| Everyone understands how you feel and they've already accepted that. |
| Please don’t fault it for reasons such as your age or job. |
| No matter what happened in their lives, everyone’s a member of the MANKAI company from the very moment they become an actor and stand on the stage. |
| Sakyo | —— |
| That’s right. I see, so that was it… |
| Izumi | Oh— Sorry for saying something so cheeky. |
| Sakyo | Has there ever been a time where you aren’t being cheeky? |
| Izumi | Of course there is! Occasionally, maybe… |
| Sakyo | Pfft. |
| Izumi | It was only around this week where everyone started acting strangely. I’m certain that it’s caused by something else asides from the play.. |
| I’ll go hear about what everyone has to say too. |
| Sakyo | …Yeah. Please do. |
