 |
| Juza | "I will avenge my brother!!" |
| Actor A | “En garde, Yulong. Did you come here to lay your corpse beside his?" |
| Juza | "You have no right to speak to me like that." |
| Izumi | (Such an intense sword fight... Wow, Juza. He's holding his own against those veteran actors. I'm in awe!) |
| (Their fervent practice has really paid off. Somehow I feel like Juza's speed and vigour have improved exponentially.) |
| (He doesn't miss a beat. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a Yuzo production...) |
| Juza | "THIS IS IT!!!" |
| —— |
| Izumi | (Oh god, did his sword really break?!) |
| Actor A | Whaaatt?? |
| Actor B | Did it really... |
| Izumi | (Looks like the broken piece didn't hit anyone. I’m glad no one got hurt. ) |
| Juza | ... |
| Izumi | (It makes sense that an incident like this would temporarily stop the play’s momentum. Without Juza, the others can't continue the action.) |
| (Come on, Juza!) |
| Actor B | WE NEED REINFORCEMENTS! |
| Juza | —Tch. |
| Izumi | (He's moving!) |
| Actor A | "I can see your brother in those eyes. So this is how the dust settles. " |
| Izumi | (What a relief. Juza had a trick up his sleeve, so the show can go on...) |
| Actor A | It’s time for curtain call. Let's go. |
| Juza | ...Tch. |
| Actor B | Hey Juza, you okay? |
| Juza | I’m fine. |
| Actor A | Thank you so much! |
| Juza | Thanks. |
| Izumi | (I hope Juza's alright... He doesn't look too good. I can tell his eyes keep wandering.) |
| Azami | What’s gonna happen with Juza? I can’t believe his sword broke during the finale, what bad luck. |
| Izumi | I hope he doesn't beat himself up too much over this... |
| First things first, let’s head to the dressing room and thank him for the tickets. |
| Azami | Alright. |
 |
| ??? | PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES! |
| Izumi | (...Is that Juza I hear?) |
| Actor A | It’s alright, it’s not your fault. |
| Actor B | It was just bad luck. |
| Staff | We also give our apologies. The mistake happened due to our lack of care for the prop details. |
| Juza | No, it’s my fault for using the prop to practice more than I should’ve. |
| Izumi | (Of course Juza would be upset over this… Maybe we should leave for now.) |
| Yuzo | Hey, you guys made it. |
| Izumi | Y-Yeah, we wanted to thank you for inviting us. The sword fight was pretty impressive! You guys were so cool. |
| Azami | Sucks what happened in the middle there. |
| Yuzo | Oh—Is Juza apologising to everyone one by one? |
| Hey everyone, good work today! What a great finale! |
| Juza | —— |
| I apologise, Yuzo! It’s my fault that— |
| Yuzo | Don’t worry about what happened today. |
| Your performance already exceeded everyone’s expectations. Today’s been a net positive overall. |
| They’re gonna make the DVD using footage from our previous performance, so no need to worry about that. |
| Juza | … |
| Yuzo | …Tch. Alright, let’s step outside. |
| Juza | Okay. |
| Izumi | (I hope Juza’s okay…) |
| Yuzo | He’ll be fine. |
| Izumi | (Even with Yuzo’s reassurance, I’m worried. Juza seemed really beat about all this.) |
| (This play was something he really poured his heart and soul into, and since it was the finale it’s not like he can just do better next time.) |
| (I hope they have a good heart to heart about this…) |
| Akashi | U-Umm, good work today… |
| Izumi | Huh!? You came to see the play too, Akashi?! |
| Akashi | Uh, well, no.. It was kind of a last minute thing, but I came to help out. |
| Azami | I guess they needed an extra guy on lighting. |
| Akashi | Umm, where is Juza? |
| Izumi | Oh, Juza? He just went off to speak with Yuzo, is there something you needed? |
| Akashi | Umm, well, no… Nothing in particular, but… I was just concerned, that’s all… |
| Azami | About the broken sword? |
| Akashi | …Umm, no, not that, it’s just Juza didn’t really seem like himself during the curtain call. |
| Something like… With the spotlight, and… Oh, you know what, nevermind. Maybe it was just my imagination. |
| Izumi | ? |
| Staff A | Hey Akashi, can you come over here for a moment? |
| Akashi | Excuse me. |
| Izumi | No problem, good work tonight. |
| (What did he mean about the spotlight?) |
 |
| Yuzo | Take a seat. |
| Juza | Yeah. |
| Staff B | Over here, we’ll leave it to you. |
| Staff C | Here, take this. |
| Juza | … |
| (The staff gave all their support, and they were depending on me, and I went and messed it up, and…) |
| Yuzo | Every member of the audience took time out of their day and money out of their pockets to gather in these very seats and watch this performance. More than anything, the veteran actors were not there as leading actors, but to support you. |
| This performance was only possible because of the support and skills from the director and staff. You’re anxious about messing up the group effort, is that right? |
| Juza | …Yeah. |
| Yuzo | Everyone could tell how uncomfortable you were during the curtain call. Like you didn't want to be standing on stage. Your whole body shrank into itself. |
| I haven’t seen you like that since Autumn Troupe's debut play. |
| Juza | …When I first became an actor, I had to do my best just to work on stage presence. |
| Once I got more experience, I learned to bask in the spotlight, and I’ve never known joy like that before. |
| Even if I hit a wall during rehearsals, I always made sure to put my best foot forward for the sake of shining brilliantly under that spotlight. |
| But today that feeling was knocked on its head. I ruined our grand finale with my clumsiness… For the first time, I was terrified of being on stage and standing in the light. |
| And after all you did to let me guest star in your play… Instead of repaying that effort, I’ve ruined everything— |
| Yuzo | Actually, it’s a good thing that your mistake happened during the finale. Means you can’t redo it. And more importantly, it gives you the chance to learn how to move on when you fuck up. |
| That’s all I can say about that. |
| No matter how much you practice, no matter how much experience you have, no matter how much talent you have as an actor… Everything on stage happens in real time. |
| I’m sure you’ll have more accidents like this one. It’s just part of being an actor. |
| And I know you, Juza. You’re not the type of actor to get awkward on stage. |
| With how deep you were absorbed into your role, there’s no way you could’ve skillfully recovered from an accident like today’s. |
| Yeah. It’s just prone to happen in acting like that, and I’m sure this won’t be the last time you fumble. |
| It’s going to happen again, and when it does, I hope you learn to forgive yourself. Your past accomplishments will still be there. It’s not out of the question for us to call you back as a guest star for a second time, either. |
| Juza | —— |
| Yuzo | It may not be much, but I know my troupe feels the same way. We’ll definitely invite you to perform with us again. |
| In the world of theatre, it’s impossible to put on a perfect show every time. |
| Even so, we as actors need to continue to strive for that and use it to drive us. So I hope you can face your fears from today, knowing that. |
| Juza | Mm. |
| Staff B | Lights on! |
| Juza | … |
| (Even though I’ve always yearned for the spotlight… The fear that paralyzed my mind wouldn’t listen to reason.) |
| (I guess all I can do is keep moving forward. I’m still terrified… terrified of making an even bigger mistake and causing even more trouble.) |
| (I can’t let this fear hinder my acting. I need to keep improving so I can take on whatever the future throws at me.) |
 |
| Juza | … |
| (...Oh, this is the flyer Muku gave me. |
| ‘WONDERUSH’... Production Assistant | Banri Settsu…) |
| Juza | So you really decided to study production to better your acting, huh? |
| Banri | What was that? |
| Juza | It says you helped with production here. |
| Banri | Yep. Weird to bring up all of a sudden… |
| Juza | What made you decide to do it? |
| Banri | …Ehh, it was ‘cause of Kabuto’s workshop at my university. You know, Kabuto from Hyakka Troupe. He talked about what made him want to go into theatre. |
| Not just about what made him want to go into acting, but also why he went into production. |
| The workshop wasn’t the only reason, but I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t have any direct influence on my decision. |
| Juza | But isn’t Kabuto the star of Hyakka Troupe? Why would someone with that prestige want to shift to production? |
| Banri | Because to him, theatre is his raison d‘etre. There’s no point to a life without the stage. But you can only be an actor for so long, y’know? So to make sure that he can stay in the industry even when his popularity fades, he took up production. |
| Juza | (Theatre is his raison d‘etre… Sounds like me. Maybe I could consider a similar path once my time on stage comes to an end…) |
| Banri | Hey, don’t you tell me that you’re thinking of going into production after all this work you’ve put into acting. |
| Juza | I told you from the beginning, my focus has always been and always will be acting. It’s like tunnel vision. I could never ever go into production. It’s just not for me. |
| I’m going to defeat you in a different way. Not through production, but through a new challenge that I’ll unearth as the lead in Autumn’s next play. |
| Banri | Heh, a new challenge? |
| Juza | I don’t know what it’ll be but… one thing I’m sure about is that my love for theatre is just as strong as Kabuto’s. |
| Banri | Heh, okay. |
| Don’t lose focus. Though it’s probably gross to hear that coming from me, of all people. |
| Juza | Huh? |
| Banri | Nevermind. |
