| Izumi | Sorry for calling you out when you're busy. |
| Mizuno | No, thank you for giving me your time. |
| Have you considered our offer of support? |
| Izumi | Yes. As mentioned, we cannot accept your offer. |
| Mizuno | Is that so......It's a pity. |
| Izumi | May I be frank with you? |
| Mizuno | Yes. |
| Izumi | You said that you offered the theatre your support because you are a fan of MANKAI Company. |
| Mizuno | Yes. |
| Izumi | But that's not actually true, is it? |
| Mizuno | Eh? |
| Izumi | You're a fan of Tsuzuru Minagi, not the troupe, or rather, you have some sort of fixation with him, do you not? |
| Mizuno | ――. |
| T-That's......Of course, the scripts at MANKAI Company have a great charm...... |
| Izumi | It's a more personal reason than the scripts, isn't it? |
| Mizuno | ――. |
| Izumi | Please tell me the truth. |
| Mizuno | ......It's as you say. |
| Izumi | What sort of relationship do you have with Tsuzuru-kun? |
| Mizuno | ......I first met him when I was an elementary school student. |
| |
| When we switched classes in Year 6, Tsuzuru-kun and I became classmates for the first time. |
| Up to that point, I hadn't spoken to him once, but due to the order of our last names, we were sat directly behind and in front of one another, and we soon became friends. |
| I lived in a bubble because of my family circumstances, and Tsuzuru-kun, who has been good at looking after others since elementary school, often looked out for me. |
| I was raised in what you would call an affluent household and lived in comfort, |
| but due to the educational policy which brought me up as the successor to the family business, I was seldom permitted to engage in child's play. |
| I was often brought along to gatherings of adults, and since I wasn't accustomed to interacting with other children I tended to stand out in class. |
| I was able to make friends with others the same age as me for the first time thanks to Tsuzuru-kun. |
| He loved writing stories back then, too, and I always looked forwards to reading the tales he'd write in his notebook. |
| |
| One day, Tsuzuru-kun came to me to discuss a birthday present for his older brother. |
| He had little pocket money and was troubled over what to buy, so I attempted to prepare a splendid bouquet for him with my own allowance. |
| I was intent on repaying him for always allowing me to read his interesting stories. |
| But Tsuzuru-kun wasn't happy. |
| On the contrary, it was the first time he was genuinely angry with me. |
| There's no meaning in that, he said. |
| Even if it cost money, if there was no heart in it his older brother wouldn't be happy. |
| But I didn't know what to do. |
| I simply recall being extremely frightened of having the first friend I'd made hate me. |
| |
| While I was like that, Tsuzuru-kun took me to the embankment and suggested me pick dandelions together. |
| He said he'd like my help to make a bouquet of dandelions together like this on his older brother's birthday. |
| The dandelion bouquet we practised to make for his older brother wasn't flashy like a splendid bouquet, |
| but I was full of pride. |
| Thanks to Tsuzuru-kun, I realised that a present with heart isn't just one which costs money, but one made by one's own hands. |
| And then I thought: |
| What if Tsuzuru-kun gave his older brother one of his stories? |
| Because I loved Tsuzuru-kun's stories, I thought his older brother was sure to as well. |
| While Tsuzuru-kun was surprised by my proposal, he was happy. |
| And so we invited his younger brothers too, and we all performed one of his stories as a play together. |
| We practised every day after school until the real thing. |
| The costumes, props and backdrops were all hand-made. |
| It was a kid's play, but it was filled with their feelings for their older brother. |
| |
| Mizuno | The day of the birthday party. The play was a huge success. His older brother was happy, and he praised us. |
| Tsuzuru-kun seemed satisfied too. Being told that it was thanks to my idea made me truly happy. |
| Izumi | (......I see. For Tsuzuru-kun, Mizuno-san is the person who gave him his reason for starting to write plays.) |
| Mizuno | When he asked me to do another play with him for his younger brother's birthday the next month, I agreed without hesitation. |
| The party at Tsuzuru-kun's house didn't have any fancy delicacies. Even the cake was a small, handmade affair. |
| Even so, that was the only time in my life that I was able to participate in such a warm, joy-filled party. |
