| A while after that, Hakkaku Ikaruga gave us a page of handwritten manuscript filled with one long line. |
| Tachibana gleefully memorized that line over and over again. |
| Even when I wasn't sure what we could do with merely one line, I could understand why he was in high spirits. The line was extremely poetic and beautiful. It showed the deep personality of the speaker and made us feel that we could expand the story in infinite ways. |
| Based on that one page, that guy created a whole scenario that we decided to perform during the school's cultural festival. |
| Besides us third years, our club was mostly filled with new members, and the one that he chose to take on the lead role was a ham actor with zero experience. I was the semi-lead actor. |
| The fact that I wasn't the one given that long line made me dejected and displeased, but Tachibana told me he wanted to write a role that was perfect for me. I accepted his explanation. Given my position, it was inevitable that I was asked to help organize the play. |
| This play was the last play I could produce with Tachibana. |
| With that thought in mind, it was only natural that I got passionate in both our daily rehearsals and teaching our juniors. Not only the actors, but I also put more effort in organizing the lighting and audio. It had to be a perfectly, beautifully coordinated play--something that was suitable to culminate our two-year effort. |
| But Tachibana, being both the theater club's president and director, opted out from giving the actors strict coaching. It was in contrast to how I thought. I got so irritated seeing him not criticize our actors when they made mistakes. |
| "Why did you choose that ham as the lead? We won't have enough time to get ourselves ready for the real deal at this rate. It's better to replace him with, let's say, the lighting staff. His acting is not bad, and I believe he can shine on the stage. If we go with that guy, I'm sure--." |
| "No. Just like how the semi-lead role was a role that can be fully bloomed because of Reni, the lead role is also a role that can be fully bloomed because of him. He'll bloom the role in 'his own way.'" |
| "Our play will be completely ruined that way." |
| "What I want to present is not the actors' good or bad performance. Rather, I want to show the audience how the actors can bloom in their own ways on the stage." |
| "--." |
| "Is this reason not enough?" |
| "...*sighs* Do whatever you want. I'm sure you won't listen no matter what I say, anyway." |
| "I'm sure our play won't be ruined as long as Reni is there. Even the highlight of this play will be handled by you. I can count on you, Reni." |
| "That's obvious." |
| A week before the cultural festival, a punk-like student and a jumpy boy came to our club room. |
| "Who are you?" |
| "C'mon, we've come all the way here." |
| "Umm…" |
| "If you don't have any business with us--." |
| "So you finally came!" |
| According to Tachibana who greeted them while all smiles, the delinquent was our ghost member Yuzo Kashima. Tachibana asked him to at least help distribute flyers on D-Day. |
| "How about you, then? What's your name?" |
| The other boy turned red the moment Tachibana asked him. |
| "Um, um…" |
| "He's my classmate and childhood friend, Kasumi Hinamori. He wants to help out too." |
| "For real!? Thanks!" |
| "That'd be helpful." |
| The boy's face got even redder when we both thanked them. |
| "!!" |
| "C'mon, Kasumi. You sure you ain't gonna ask for their sign?" |
| "No way--I'm too afraid! Uh… good luck with the play!" |
| Hinamori then left the room, as if he was running away from something. Kashima, looking dumbfounded, went to chase him after that. |
| "Putting their behavior aside, those two are pretty good-looking. How about we replace the actors with them? They should be better than the ones we have now." |
| "I believe we won't talk about that anymore." |
| "Ah--." |
| I turned to look at the club entrance the moment I heard a strange voice. There, our juniors who were supposed to appear in the play stood with an uncomfortable look on their face. Looking back now, that was probably the trigger. |
| It was the day of the cultural festival. |
| Nobody other than us showed up to the meeting. Instead, we found a farewell letter in the clubroom. They probably decided to boycott the play because they didn't want to share the stage with me. |
| "Shoot." |
| "We have no choice, then. Be my substitute. I'm sure you already memorized the lines and movements, right?" |
| "No, not happening." |
| "But we can't even raise the curtain at this rate. I think everything will be alright if I withdraw." |
| "No! You're vital to this play, Reni. You have to be in it." |
| No matter how many times I told him, Tachibana stubbornly held onto his decision. |
| I didn't know what to do. |
| This was the last play I produced with Tachibana. |
| Just when I was starting to despair thinking this was how our two-year effort ended, Hinamori and Kashima showed up. |
| "Uhh…! Is there anything we can do to help!? Come on, Yuzo. You too--!" |
| "Haah…? Why should I do this too…" |
| "I-I was impressed by the play you performed at the cultural festival last year!" |
| "I was impressed by the fact that you two could produce such an amazing play despite being a year older than me… You made me realize how amazing theater is. I was looking forward to your play this time. I am so sad to know that your last play is going to end like this." |
| "Still, what can we…" |
| I remembered something when I looked at their face. |
| Right, Tachibana and I were not the only original members of the theater club. As long as there's a stage and lines, a play can be produced. |
| "Hey, punk, handle the lighting. And you... Hinamori, was it? Be the sound operator." |
| "Y-Yes!" |
| "I'll be giving you instructions through the intercom during the play. You can just do as I tell you to." |
| "Huh? Who will stand on the stage then…" |
| "It's you, Tachibana." |
| "Me…?" |
| "It's nearly impossible to perform a proper play with this number of people. That's why, at the very least, we're going to recite that one page from Hakkaku Ikaruga." |
| "Just one page!?" |
| "Are you for real…" |
| "Why won't you do it, Reni?" |
| "That one page was something you got after saying you would use it for our play at the cultural festival. Take responsibility. I don't want to suddenly change roles and perform such a risky play." |
| Despite what I said, the truth is, I didn't want to take on any other roles than the one Tachibana gave me. I wasn't interested in any roles other than that one. I didn't want to go on stage with that feeling. |
| "You promised to make me bloom in my own way, didn't you? That line was not my line." |
| "That's so you, Reni." |
| Smiling, Tachibana agreed to go on the stage. |
| Tachibana, who was the start of it all, stood on the stage along with Hakkaku Ikaruga's line. In a way, it was an appropriate last play for us. |
| It was time for the performance. |
| Even though it was almost time to raise the curtain, the gymnasium was still empty. I had already expected this, given how low the theater club's popularity was and the fact that we didn't do anything to lure in the audience. Even after the buzzer signaling the start of the performance went off, students who were taking a break there didn't pay any attention to the stage. |
| The music started, the spotlight turned on. Tachibana appeared from the left side of the stage. |
| On that empty stage, he slowly opened his mouth. |
| From his tranquil way of speaking, all the emotions in that one single line--fury, pain and sorrow--were expressed vividly before one's eyes. He breathed life into the words. |
| I, no, anyone who was present in that place was overwhelmed by his appearance at the time. I couldn't take my eyes off the mysterious character Tachibana played on that stage. The moment he closed his mouth, he disappeared. |
| "...BG, lighting, slowly fade-out." |
| Just as I barely managed to give our instructions, I lowered the curtain. Meanwhile, the audience eagerly applauded Tachibana, who was bowing at the center stage, with an utter look of amazement. |
| He only performed for several minutes, but I felt like I was still in a dream even after the performance. |
| "It turned terrible, I see," Hakkaku Ikaruga's voice snapped me out of it. |
| "I'm sorry for how this turned out. You even bothered to write us a script." |
| "If I recall, you said you'd only do theater until high school graduation, right? Are you going to quit now?" |
| I couldn't answer his question. Perhaps, if he asked a few minutes ago, I'd nod without hesitation. |
| "Do you want me to write… the continuation of that line?" |
| "Huh!? Certainly!" |
| Hakkaku Ikaruga grinned as Tachibana answered it while nodding his head. |
| "You two, build your own theater troupe after you graduate. If you don't mind me writing the script in my spare time, I'd personally write it." |
| Of all things--for this eccentric man to say something like that. |
| "I want to see the final product of your play, then. How's that?" |
| "We'll do it!" |
| "Hey!" |
| Even though I scolded Tachibana for replying without asking my opinion, I also thought to myself that I couldn't let it end like this. When I saw Tachibana on the stage, I felt a different kind of exaltation from when I stood on the stage as an actor. |
| If this guy went on the stage again, I wanted to see that beautiful performance. My life was thrown into confusion with a single one-man show at an empty gymnasium. |
| |
| Izumi | ...So something like that happened. |
| Yuzo | Yeah, and that time might be the reason why I like a one-man show like "portrait." |
| Izumi | Did my dad initially work as an actor, then? |
| Yuzo | Nah. As far as I know, that time was the only time Yukio-san ever performed on stage. |
| Izumi | Did that performance make you decide to do theater with dad and join MANKAI Company? |
| Yuzo | It wasn't that simple. |
| Oh, I ended up talking for too long. I'm running out of time today. Next time, we'll take our time to continue our talk. |
| Manager | Eeeh! Isn't this like those TV shows that cut off an episode at a good part!? |
| Tsuzuru | Haa… Haa… |
| Masumi | Uugh… |
| Izumi | What's wrong, Tsuzuru-kun, Masumi-kun!? |
| Tsuzuru | The script… |
| Masumi | Ugh… |
| Manager | I understand if it's just Tsuzuru-kun, but why is Masumi-kun losing strength too!? |
| Masumi | I accompanied him… all night… |
| Manager | This is a new pattern…! |
| Izumi | Let's carry them to the sofa for now! |
| Yuzo | So the script is done, huh. Good luck. I have high hopes for y'all. |
| Izumi | Yes, thank you! |
