| Izumi | (Yoshimaru and Santa manage to flee from Hyuga and deliver the letter requesting an alliance to Racoon Castle, but....) |
| (The letter they took was actually the love letter from Crane Castle to Fox Castle; thus, the alliance is broken off....) |
| (Carrying the letter from Boar Castle declaring war on Fox Castle, Hyuga blocks Yoshimaru and Santa’s path once more.) |
| Hyuga | “In the end, we couldn’t avoid war. I hear Racoon Castle will side with Boar Castle.” |
| Kiichi | “Eh!? Why!?” |
| Santa | “Apparently they found out that the princess of Fox Castle was writing to the young lord of Crane Castle.” |
| “The lord of Racoon Castle intended to marry the princess to the young lord of Crane Castle; that’s why he refuses to join forces with Fox Castle.” |
| Kiichi | “W-wait, don’t tell me he found out because....” |
| Yoshimaru | “We delivered the wrong letter~....” |
| Kiichi | “Seriously....” |
| Hyuga | “There’s nothing we can do now... As a shinobi of Iga, I can’t let the members of Koga go.” |
| *Whoosh* |
| Yoshimaru | “—Woah.” |
| Kiichi | “Hyuga!” |
| Hyuga | “Kiichi, you fight too. Have you forgotten how the shinobi code of conduct?” |
| Kiichi | “Death to the traitor—.” |
| Yoshimaru | “Do we have to fight? Is that our only option?” |
| Santa | “Let’s go, Yoshimaru!” |
| Kiichi | “—h.” |
| *Clash* |
| Hyuga | “Hey, wait!? Who are you fighting!?” |
| Yoshimaru | “Hah!” |
| *Clash* |
| Santa | “—Yoshimaru!?” |
| Izumi | (Kiichi and Yoshimaru both choose to defy their respective homes... This is the highlight of the action, where the four members clash in a jumble.) |
| Kiichi | “There!” |
| *Clash* |
| Hyuga | “Your enemy is Iga, Kiichi!” |
| *Clash* |
| Santa | “Yoshimaru, are you going to betray us!?” |
| Kiichi | “Drink together once, and you’re friends!” |
| Yoshimaru | “Drink together every day, and you’re brothers!” |
| Kiichi | “Agreed, Yosshi!” |
| Yoshimaru | “Let’s go, my brother!” |
| Hyuga | “The village will hunt you down!” |
| Santa | “Don’t be an idiot!” |
| Yoshimaru | “Poof!” |
| Kiichi | “Adieu~!” |
| *Puff of smoke* |
| |
| Izumi | (They are pursued by the members of both Iga and Koga....) |
| Yoshimaru | “They’re really chasing us down~.” |
| Kiichi | “Don’t they have better things to do than chase us?” |
| Yoshimaru | “There’s a special unit just for chasing after traitors. They don’t get drop-outs like us very often, so they’re all hyped to do their job~.” |
| Kiichi | “What a giant pain.” |
| Yoshimaru | “But at this rate we might get killed~. What should we do?” |
| Kiichi | “It’s not like we’re gonna quit being shinobi~.” |
| Yoshimaru | “Right, right? I just don’t want a war~.” |
| Kiichi | “Can we stop a war?” |
| Yoshimaru | “Eh~. Do we tell them, please don’t fight! Or something like that?” |
| Kiichi | “Wait, didn’t Boar Castle say that if Racoon Castle joins forces with Fox Castle, Boar Castle will no longer attack Fox Castle?” |
| Yoshimaru | “Yeah, but~. That plan failed~. Thanks to us.” |
| Kiichi | “But doesn’t that mean that if Crane Castle joins forces with Fox Castle, it’ll be 2-on-2?” |
| “And maybe Boar Castle will no longer attack Fox Castle?” |
| Yoshimaru | “Eh~, is that how it works?” |
| Kiichi | “I dunno, but.” |
| Yoshimaru | “Should we give it a shot?” |
| Kiichi | “Yeah! Let’s make up a love letter from the princess of Fox Castle and deliver it to the lord of Crane Castle. He might help us out!” |
| Yoshimaru | “Sounds good~!” |
| |
| Izumi | (The two pretend to carry out an alliance from the princess of Fox Castle to Crane Castle....) |
| Young Lord | “...Is this letter really from the princess?” |
| Yoshimaru | “Eh!?” |
| Kiichi | “Of course! Please look at the perfectly-copied handwriting—.” |
| Young Lord | “Perfectly-copied?” |
| Yoshimaru | “Kii-chan, you idiot—.” |
| Young Lord | “You’re trying to fool me, aren’t you!?” |
| Kiichi | “N-no! You’re misunderstanding!” |
| Young Lord | “Hmph! I’ve had enough of your excuses! Someone come forth! We have a rascal!” |
| Izumi | (Kumon-kun fits right in—I can’t believe it’s only his second performance.) |
| (Kazunari-kun and Misumi-kun’s exchanges are so natural that Kumon-kun can jump right in with no trouble.) |
| |
| Kiichi | “Awawawa!” |
| Yoshimaru | “What are we gonna do~?” |
| Kiichi | “I don’t know....” |
| Yoshimaru | “He won’t trust a single letter we deliver anymore.” |
| Kiichi | “Hmm....” |
| “Our only option is to take the princess herself....” |
| Yoshimaru | “That’s impossible~.” |
| “...Ah, that’s right!” |
| |
| Izumi | (Yoshimaru asks a kunoichi for her help....) |
| Sae | “So you want me to deceive the young lord of Crane Caste by posing as the princess of Fox Castle and carrying out an alliance.” |
| Yoshimaru | “Please~. You’re the only one who can handle this job.” |
| Sae | “Ten gold coins.” |
| Yoshimaru | “Can we please make that five!?” |
| Sae | “Ten.” |
| Yoshimaru | “Seven!” |
| Sae | “Ten.” |
| Yoshimaru | “Eight!” |
| Sae | “Haah?” |
| Yoshimaru | “Nine!” |
| Sae | “See you~.” |
| Yoshimaru | “Uu... fine.” |
| Sae | “Thanks for your business~.” |
| Kiichi | “Are you sure we can trust this kunoichi?” |
| Sae | “What, are you doubting me? Just watch.” |
| Izumi | (But wow, it’s only the first day and there are already so many adlibs...! The audience is also having fun; this is good.) |
| |
| Kiichi | “...All right, let’s go.” |
| Yoshimaru | “There’s no one over here. We’re clear~.” |
| Sae | “....” |
| Soldier | “Who goes there!?” |
| Sae | “What do you mean, we’re clear?” |
| Yoshimaru | “Hah!” |
| *Clash* |
| *Woosh* |
| Kiichi | “—h.” |
| Soldier | “Come forth, come forth! We have some rascals!” |
| Kiichi | “Hah!” |
| *Woosh* |
| Sae | “I’ll leave these guys to you.” |
| Kiichi | “Ah, w-wait, can’t you help us a little—!” |
| |
| Young Lord | “What’s this ruckus?” |
 |
| Sae | “Excuse me.” |
| Young Lord | “You are—.” |
| Sae | “I am the first princess of Fox Castle.” |
| Young Lord | “P-princess!? Why are you here—.” |
| Sae | “I came to speak to you about my true feelings.” |
| Young Lord | “True feelings...?” |
| Sae | “Boar Castle is preparing to launch an attack on Fox Castle as we speak. A crisis is approaching.” |
| “If Fox Castle falls, Boar Castle will take me hostage, and I can no longer be with you, young lord....” |
| “I wanted to meet you once before that happened....” |
| Young Lord | “Princess... I’m touched....” |
| Izumi | (What a huge difference from Sae the miser. Yuki-kun is also in top form.) |
| Young Lord | “I won’t let Boar Castle do as they please! I will ask my father to side with Fox Castle and support them!” |
| Sae | “So easy....” |
| Young Lord | “Did you say something, princess?” |
| Sae | “No, nothing at all....” |
| Kiichi | “The young lord is so easy!” |
| Yoshimaru | “Yay~! Now we can avoid going to war!” |
| |
| Izumi | (Crane Castle and Fox Castle is successfully form an alliance, and Boar Castle aborts its attack on Fox Castle.) |
| (War is avoided; the young lord of Crane Castle will marry the princess of Fox Castle....) |
| Yoshimaru | “Phew~, that was so much trouble.” |
| Kiichi | “Man, honestly~.” |
| Yoshimaru | “But the princess of Fox Castle gave me a special reward because she’s going to marry the young lord of Crane Castle. Everything ended up fantastic, so it’s all good~.” |
| Kiichi | “Wait, but what does the actual princess of Fox Castle look like? Aren’t we in trouble if they find out she and Sae look different?” |
| Yoshimaru | “Hm~, well, they kind of sort of look not-not-similar, so I think we’re fine~?” |
| Kiichi | “So they definitely don’t look alike.” |
| Yoshimaru | “Wonder what’s going to happen with the princess of Racoon Castle~?” |
| Kiichi | “Yeah, he’s two-timing them, after all.” |
| Yoshimaru | “If things don’t go well, we might end up with a war between Racoon Castle and Crane Caste. Just kidding....” |
| Kiichi | “....” |
| Yoshimaru | “....” |
| Kiichi | “Well, whatever.” |
| Yoshimaru | “Since our job is safely done~, wanna have a party?” |
| Kiichi | “Ya~y!” |
| Santa | “Can you cut it out already!?” |
| Hyuga | “When will you learn!?” |
| *Smack* |
| Yoshimaru | “!?” |
| Kiichi | “!!” |
| Hyuga | “You’re going to repent in the village!” |
| Santa | “You’re going to be working in the village for a while!” |
| Yoshimaru | “Eh~!?” |
| Kiichi | “No way~!!” |
| |
| *Applause* |
| |
| Banri | Pfft! They’re kicking off the first day hard! |
| Taichi | Ahahaha! |
| Azuma | Fufu, that show was just like Summer Troupe. |
| Audience A | This play was a lot of fun too~! |
| Audience B | I liked how loose they were! |
| |
| Izumi | .... |
| (We’re halfway through the run of the performance... I’m glad the questionnaire responses look good this time too.) |
| (We got a lot of comments about the flyer, too.) |
| (It looks like Kazunari-kun took out his art block frustration on the flyer design.) |
| (He was even more motivated about it than usual, he came up with so many rough designs....) |
| (He wouldn’t let Tsuzuru-kun go until he gave him his opinion....) |
| Misumi | Let’s go~! |
| Kazunari | Sounds good! |
| Izumi | ? |
| (They’re being a little loud outside.) |
| |
| Izumi | Guys, where are you going? |
| Muku | Ah! We’re all going to do a street act together. |
| Izumi | Eeh? |
| Kumon | I get stiff on rest days when we don’t have a showing, so~. |
| Yuki | We’re only going for an hour, okay? |
| Tenma | Come on, let’s go. |
| Izumi | You need to rest on your rest days—ah, they’re not even listening. Geez.... |
| Well, I guess this is fine.... |
| (I should have some tea.) |
| Hm? |
| (The storage room door is open....) |
| (That’s right. Kazunari-kun said that he declined the study abroad opportunity, but he still wanted to finish one painting....) |
| |
| Izumi | —Wow. |
| Amazing.... |
| (Fireworks in the night sky.... It’s so vibrant, it’s almost blinding; the way it bursts with liveliness reminds me of Summer Troupe.) |
| ...Ah, is this the caption? |
| |
| Title: To the Past Me. |
| Author: Veludo Arts University, Japanese Painting Department Third Year Miyoshi Kazunari |
| |
| Right now, I am spending my days doing what I love. |
| I am painting, and acting with the people I love, every day. |
| |
| The path I chose is a new kind of creator, one not bound by conventional forms: |
| A “UMC (Ultra-multi-creator).” |
| |
| I will become something nobody has ever become before; |
| I will move forward by discovering and following an untrodden path. |
| |
| The current me is very selfish, and often lost, but |
| This is the result of me choosing “this very moment in time” so I won’t regret it later. |
| |
| Izumi | (This is just like Kazunari-kun....) |
| (I’m sure Kazunari-kun will choose his own path as he heads towards the future from here on out.) |
| (Treasuring each and every instance of “this very moment in time”....) |
