| *Door opens* |
Juza | .... |
Banri | Oi, Hyodo. What did that old man say to you? |
Juza | .... |
Banri | Hey, are you listening? |
Juza | ——. |
Banri | Fucker, don’t ignore me! |
Sakyo | ...Why are you picking a fight with him, Settsu? |
Taichi | Ban-chan, no fighting~. |
Banri | No, it’s totally his fault this time! |
Omi | Huh, everyone’s not here yet? |
Azami | We’re just waiting on Director and Tsuzuru-san. |
Taichi | Ah, Omi-kun, did you bring that from home!? |
Omi | Yeah. My little brothers asked me to take videos of the troupe. |
Taichi | Then we need to properly introduce everyone! |
| Er~, ahem! Look over there~ to the right, we see the famous demon of Autumn Troupe: Sakyo-nii~! |
Sakyo | Stop playing around! Let’s begin the meeting! |
Izumi | Sorry for making you wait. |
Tsuzuru | Looks like we’re the last ones. |
Izumi | Let’s begin our meeting on Autumn Troupe’s Sixth Play. |
| We already decided that the lead will be Juza-kun; does anyone have any ideas for the story? |
Tsuzuru | We should probably come up with a setting where Autumn Troupe can make full use of action scenes. |
Omi | We’ve done all sorts of battle-type plays. How else can we incorporate action scenes.... |
Taichi | How about street performers! |
Banri | Well that’s new. |
Sakyo | Acrobatics do require action. But does it suit Autumn Troupe.... |
Azami | Sounds like Summer Troupe. |
Banri | Agreed. |
Izumi | What about heroes? |
Tsuzuru | Now that you mention it, we haven’t done a classic hero story yet. |
Taichi | We can include battle scenes too; I think that’s good. |
Banri | If Hyodo’s the lead, it’ll be about a rogue, not a hero. |
Juza | Rogue[1]? |
Omi | The villain; the monster. |
Azami | It might be interesting to tell a hero’s tale from the other side. |
Taichi | Agreed! |
Juza | ...If I play the villain, it’ll be in the same vein as Manto Fist’s Chilong, so I want to be on the hero’s side. |
Izumi | Is that so...? |
Tsuzuru | I can make some adjustments with the script for that, but.... |
Taichi | Juza-san, you play the coolest villains! |
Juza | No, I want to play the hero this time. |
Sakyo | If we go with a hero story, your role is just going to be completely different from your character, Hyodo. |
Izumi | It’s your chance to play the lead—I think it’s better to go with a role written for you so that you can perform your best, Juza-kun. |
Juza | It might take some time for me to get my role down, but I want to play a character that’s truly different from me, no matter what. |
| I know I’m still incompetent. But I want to grasp something I haven’t managed to reach till now... No, I need to. |
Izumi | (Juza-kun... He seems a little pressed. I guess it means this play is that important to him, but....) |
Banri | Are you gonna make the whole Autumn Troupe play along with your selfishness? What, so anything’s fine so long as you’re satisfied? Will the audience be satisfied like that? |
Juza | ——. |
Tsuzuru | Juza... um, I’ll include traits that weren’t in your previous roles, so for now, can I write this role with you in mind? |
Juza | ...Yeah. Sorry, I’ll go cool off a bit. |
| *Door closes* |
Izumi | (I wonder if he’s okay....) |
Tsuzuru | ...A hero, huh. |
| |
| Location: Restaurant |
Waiter | Please call me when your order is ready. |
Kumon | Hey, hey, I can eat whatever I want today, right, Tsuzuru-san? Your treat!? |
Tsuzuru | Don’t unleash the true powers of your high-school-boy stomach, okay? I’m on a tight budget this month. |
Kumon | Okay! I’ll keep it to about fifty percent power, then! |
Tsuzuru | Thanks. |
Kumon | So, what did you want to talk to me about? |
Tsuzuru | I want you to tell me about the Juza that only you know, Kumon. |
Kumon | Tsuzuru-san, did you finally realize nii-chan’s appeal!? Wanna join the fanclub!? |
Tsuzuru | There’s a fanclub? |
Kumon | Member no. 1 is me~, no. 2 is Muku~, no. 3 is Taichi-san~, Azami is no. 4, and Sakoda-san is no. 5! |
Tsuzuru | I can understand up to no. 3, but why did 4 and 5 join? |
Kumon | I forced Azami to join, and Sakoda-san joined when I joined Sakyo-san’s fanclub! |
Tsuzuru | A trade agreement.... I’ll pass on the fanclub for now. |
Kumon | Aw~. |
Tsuzuru | I wanted to make Juza’s Autumn Troupe lead performance meaningful for Juza himself. |
| During “First Crush Baseball”, you managed to overcome your past through the stage, right, Kumon? |
| Back then, Juza was the one who suggested projecting your life onto the script, Kumon. |
Kumon | So this is a script for nii-chan? |
Tsuzuru | Yeah. Because there are some things that only siblings know, right? |
Kumon | Yeah. You’re right. |
Tsuzuru | You know, he wants to play a hero this time. |
| But a bunch of us think that the role of a stereotypical superhero in a world of poetic justice won’t suit Juza. |
Kumon | That's not—. |
Tsuzuru | But of course that doesn’t mean Juza can’t play a hero. |
| Even in his own life up till now—Juza must have been someone’s hero. |
| That’s when I thought of you, Kumon. |
Kumon | Yup yup! |
Tsuzuru | What I really want to hear today is what kind of hero Juza has been to you, Kumon. |
Kumon | Leave it to me! |
| Because I’ve watched him more closely than anyone else... I know how cool nii-chan’s way of life is, better than anyone. |
| —Oh, it’ll probably get long, so can I order something from the drink menu? |
Tsuzuru | ...Yeah, that’s fine. |
Kumon | Yay! |