| Izumi | I'm Tachibana, one of the invitees. |
| Staff A | We've been expecting you. Mr. Kashima is hoping to see you, so please wait at your seat after the performance ends. |
| Izumi | (Whoa, it's a full house…) |
| (I wonder if this is the impact of his "Spotlight" feature, since it seemed to be well-received.) |
| (I kind of feel bad for getting the ticket through invitation…) |
| Audience Member A | Hey, hey. Isn't that… |
| Izumi | ? |
| Audience Member B | No way! Reni Kamikizaka? |
| Reni | … |
| Izumi | (Oh, it's Kamikizaka-san. He sure is popular. I should go greet him after the performance.) |
| |
| … |
| (I've already watched this before, but it was better than last time… Both the actors' performance and the quality of the production were better.) |
| (The sharpness of the sword fight was something else… We could sense their vigor. It swallowed us up. We couldn't look away.) |
| (The staging was also well-balanced. It was interesting. I didn't know there's such a way to direct a play… I learnt something new.) |
| |
| … |
| (Haaah… the play ended before I knew it. I'll recommend this to everyone!) |
| (I was told to wait after the performance…) |
| Reni | … |
| Izumi | (Oh, Kamikizaka-san also remained in his seat.) |
| Hello. |
| Reni | Hello. So you came too, huh. |
| Izumi | I'd received an invitation from Yuzo-san--. |
| Yuzo | --Hey. How was it? |
| Izumi | Yuzo-san! It was so interesting! I was impressed by the production! |
| Reni | ...Kashima, the beginning of the second act was the idea that Tachibana came up with for the first-gen Spring Troupe's play, wasn't it? |
| Izumi | Eh!? My dad!? |
| Yuzo | Haha, you could've said it was an homage. |
| That aside, I wanted to talk about Yukio-san with you two. Can we move to the waiting room? |
| |
| Now, about that guy--. |
| Izumi | Huh? That script… |
| Reni | Can you explain to me why this guy has the thing that you should have been keeping? |
| Izumi | My apologies. In the end, I wanted the first-gen member to keep that… |
| Yuzo | Have you read this? |
| Reni | … |
| Yuzo | This story is certainly one that is solely dedicated to us first-gens. |
| I was wonderin' what Hakkaku-san was thinkin' when he wrote this story while lyin' in the hospital bed--… |
| Izumi | Yuzo-san… |
| Yuzo | ...M'bad. I got emotional. |
| I want to perform this… Though I know we have a very tough one among us. |
| Izumi | … |
| (He must be referring to Dad… We can't even contact him. What should we do…) |
| Yuzo | But well, there's a chance that damn stubborn guy will change his tune if we keep persuadin' him. |
| Izumi | ? |
| Reni | Hm? |
| Yuzo | Though I may not look like it, I'm still his childhood friend… Guess I need to do something about it. |
| Reni | Huh? So you're talking about Hinamori? |
| Izumi | No, no, no, hold on! Our biggest obstacle here is the appointed director a.k.a. my dad, right? |
| Yuzo | ...Ah, I see. |
| In that case, I'll send the script to his place and have someone ask him about the production plan. If worst comes to worst, we can just ask him through a phone call. |
| Reni | Huh? |
| Izumi | Eh? |
| Yuzo | ...I suppose I was indeed bein' mean to you. |
| ...I've always been trying to find the right timing, so I couldn't tell you this. |
| Izumi | --. |
| Yuzo | Your father--Yukio Tachibana-san is still alive. |
| Izumi | !! |
| Yuzo | After he disappeared without telling anyone, I was the only one who kept in touch with him through phone calls. |
| Reni | Kashima, you… |
| Yuzo | Sometimes I'd tell him about how hard you’ve been working after establishing the newborn MANKAI Company. He was happy to hear that. |
| Izumi | Dad is… alive… |
| Thank goodness… *sobs* Dad… *sobs* |
| Yuzo | ...Sorry. I couldn't tell you due to the circumstances. |
| Reni | What kind of circumstances does he have that he couldn't even tell his own daughter about it? He's as selfish as ever. |
| Yuzo | Don't say that. In the unlikely event that Yukio-san's whereabouts get leaked out, that person won't be able to involve himself in the theater industry anymore. |
| For that person, it's just the same as death. |
| Izumi | --. |
| Yuzo | Hakkaku-san's will might have given me the chance to talk about it like this now. |
| Listen, you mustn't breathe a word of what I'm going to tell you to anyone else. |
| Frankly speaking… that person has been put into a situation where he can't do any activities in this country's theater industry, let alone in Veludo Way. |
