Citron/Charming Parasol Dance

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2Part 3

Shop Lady	Alrighty, thank you again for your patronage.
Izumi	Of course.
Citron	We should be thanking you for always having these delicious vegetables!
Shop Lady	I appreciate it. By the way, our local community centre is sponsoring this year’s Kakushi Arts Festival.
Citron	Kakushi Arts! Niiice~~!
Shop Lady	There will be other types of performances too, but I know you seem to really like Kakushi.
	If you’re interested, you should sign up. Anyone who wants to can participate.
Citron	That sounds super fun! I wanna perform for sure!
Izumi	We are also supposed to perform some Kakushi Arts at the temple this year, this seems like a good opportunity to practice.
Citron	You’re right! We can use this chance to get a feel for the atmosphere~!
	But it would be kinda boring performing alone.
Izumi	Yea, so then who else--
Citron	What about you, director? I wanna do some Kakushi Arts with you!
Izumi	Huh, me!?
Shop Lady	Oh, how nice.
Izumi	But I don’t really have anything I could perform....
Shop Lady	Oh, but that is exactly why you should try it. The festival’s purpose is to promote local talent.
Citron	Yea, what she said!
Izumi	U-Uhh.... Well I can’t really do anything really advanced, is that still alright?
Citron	Of course!
Izumi	Alright then, I’ll join.
Citron	YEAH! With that decided, let’s go back and plan what we’re gonna do~!
	Izumi So what do you wanna do, Citron?
	I wanna do wotagei<ref>Wotagei: A Japanese cheering technique that involves waving around lightsticks in an orchestrated manner, most commonly seen at concerts. !
Izumi	Huh!? That would really excite the crowd but it seems kinda difficult...
Citron	Well then how about telling riddles? We could take topics from the audience and then quickly arrange them all in a riddle!
Izumi	Okay, but your Japanese tends to be a bit confusing at times, I don’t think we would really be able to get our message across to the audience well....
Citron	Oh, you’re right I guess~ Well then guess the only other option we have left is jumping through a ring of fire!
Izumi	UM WHAT!? Let’s not to anything dangerous!
Sakuya	Oh, hey Citron, hey director. Good work today!
Citron	Great timing, Sakuya! Hey mind helping us for a sec?
Sakuya	Sure, what is it?
Citron	Well actually me and the director are going to be performing at the Kakushi Arts festival!
	But we don’t know what type of performing arts we wanna try.
Sakuya	Oh, I see. You mean the local Kakushi Arts Festival...
	Hmm, how about that umbrella spinning that Azami did one year? It looked difficult, but the crowd seemed to love it!
Citron	Umbrella spinning sounds simple enough~!
Izumi	But could we really master it with just a bit of practice, I wonder..... Maybe we should go ask Azami?
Citron	Yeah! Azami would definitely be happy to teach us!

Citron	Thanks in advance for all this, Azami~!
	Thank you so so much Azami!
Azami	Don’t mention it. I am just repeating what Ichiro had taught me about umbrella spinning and stuff.
	Alright, let’s begin. First, you need to hold the umbrella like this.
Izumi	Like this?
Azami	Yea, then you need to grab a cone and place it on top and spin.
Izumi	W-WHAT’S HAPPENING!?
Citron	Just go with the flow, director! I’m gonna try spinning too~!
	Yo! Hoo! Haa! It’s spinning a lot more than it did last time~!
Izumi	T-That’s because you kept dropping it before!
Citron	Oh, I didn’t notice!
Azami	This makes me a little nervous...
	Izumi It seems like only one of us seems really into this...
Citron	YO! HOO! Hey director, how about we play catch using our umbrellas! Catch the cone from mine!
Izumi	N-No no, I dropped mine already!
Azami	But it’s not really Kakushi Arts if you are just spinning and umbrella with nothing on it.
Izumi	Ahaha...
Izumi	I’m glad we were able to get a hang of the umbrella spinning!
Citron	And it’s all thanks to Azami’s special training~!
Committee member	Oh, if it isn’t Citron! Are you going to be performing at the festival today?
Citron	Yes! We just finished up our preparations!
Committee member	I see, I’m looking forward to it. You know where the reception desk is, right?
Izumi	Ah, we were just about to look for it...
Committee member	Then come follow me, -- It’s over this way, you can sign up over here.
Citron	Thank you!
Committee member	You’re welcome. Good luck!
Izumi	Thank you so much!
Receptionist	Are you participating in the festival?
Citron	That’s right! Me and the director are participating together!
Receptionist	I am sorry, but today we are only accepting male performers...
Izumi	Huh, oh is that right?
Receptionist	Yes, girls will be performing at the festival another day.
Citron	You’re saying that the director can’t perform with me? Aww that’s too bad...
Izumi	That’s alright. Well then you just do your best, Citron!
Citron	Okay, I will work my hardest for you, director~!
Participant A	....
Participant B	....
Citron	....
	Hey director... For some reason I feel like the only people participating today are guys that look like Tasuku.
Izumi	Now that you mention it, yeah I can see it. Seems like it’s just a bunch of muscle men.
Citron	What’s that supposed to mean?

Izumi	(I finally made it to my seat but... Huh, somehow I feel like this whole venue is fired up about something...)
Citron	DIRECTOR! SOS, HELP ME ~!
Izumi	Huh, Citron!? What is it?
Citron	This festival isn’t the Kakushi Arts Festival at all... It’s a Muscle Festival!
Izumi	A WHAT!? MUSCLE FESTIVAL!?
Citron	I was right when I thought it was strange that all of the participants were guys that looked like Tasuku. This is totally some sort of body building tournament.
Izumi	WHAT!? This is totally not the Kakushi Arts Festival....
Citron	But I already put my name down to enter... I’m not muscular at all, there’s no way I could....
Izumi	Citron...
Announcer	Attention, attention, is Citron here? Contestant Citron, please come back stage for the Body Building Tourmament.
Citron	DIRECTOR, HELP ME! I’M GONNA GET CLOWNED IF I GO~!
Izumi	No, you won’t!
Citron	I-I... I don’t wanna goooo.....
Izumi	Y-Yeah.... Wait, I got it!
	Hey Citron, I think I got an idea. But first, how about you go ahead and go back stage.
(This was the only thing I could think of in the moment.... Somehow I think this will help Citron	get through this mess.)
Announcer	And now, let’s start the local Body Building Tournament!
Audience	WOW!
Audience Member A	NICE! SO BUFF! NICE MUSCLES!
Audience Member B	THOSE BICEPS! BIGGER THAN MOUNT EVEREST!
Audience C	AND THOSE SHOULDER MUSCLES! WOW THOSE ABS!
Audience D	LOOK AT THEM CHESTICLES!!! MEGA SWOOLLE!!
Izumi	(O-Oh my god...! Are people always this loud at body building tournaments!?)
Committee Chairman	And next we have contestant number five! Please welcome, Citron!
Citron	.....
Izumi	(Will this really work...)
Audience A	What? He drew on his stomach with marker?
Citron	WOOOO!
Audience B	W-WOW... WHAT A SMILE! NICE! HAPPY BOY!
Citron	WOOO!! WOOO!!
Audience C	HIS ABS ARE SMILING TOO!
Izumi	(Everyone is laughing along! What a relief!)
Audience D	HIS ABS AND FACE HAVE SUCH A BIG SMILE! HOW NICE!
Izumi	(Y-Yeah, ok I’m gonna try shouting too-!)
	H-HEY COULD YOU CARRY BOWLS OF CURRY ON THEM SHOULDERS??
Audience	Ahahaha!
Izumi	Ahh...
Announcer	Thank you so much, Citron! Now onto the next contestant!
Izumi	(We made the whole venue laugh... Nice.)
Citron	I had no idea we would get a special judges award!
Izumi	You were the one who got the most reaction from the audience, they all seemed to love your performance!
Citron	And it was all because director came up with the idea to draw a smiling face on my stomach!
Izumi	Well I thought it would be a bit too difficult if you just went up there without anything to show, so I thought I could give you just a little something to help you out.
	... Actually I was just trying to capture your bright and dazzling smile in the face.
Citron	Oh, so you mean you drew the face to look like me!? I didn’t even notice at all!
Director	was thinking of me the whole time.... I’m so happy!
CHOICE 1: I’m happy I could help [+] Izumi Although I am still not sure how much I did, I’m happy I could help. Citron Of course you helped! It was your idea that saved me! Izumi No no, I think it was your smile that saved the day, once again! Citron Oh, do you think? So then today you helped me and I helped you, we were brutally helpful! Izumi Umm, you mean, ‘mutually’ helpful, right? Citron Yeah, that! I will continue to smile lots and lots and keep helping you, director!
CHOICE 2: Did it not look like you? [+] Izumi Ahaha, guess it didn’t really look like you. Citron No, it’s not that at all! You drew it on my stomach so I just couldn’t see it properly, that’s all... I am positive you made it look like me, totally! Wait, lemme take a look right now! Izumi H-Hey wait, Citron, we’re in public! Don’t just strip-- Stop!
Izumi	Ahh, anyway, how about we head back and I can make you some curry for your hard work today?
Citron	Curry.... On my shoulders...... Actually I’m having war flashbacks from earlier today, please not that...
Izumi	U-Uh... Oh yea I did shout that... U-Uhh, wow that was pretty cringy now that I think about it.
Citron	Actually, it was a pretty iconic line. I think it could be quite the punchline as a comedian hmmmm....
Izumi	No, wait what do you mean!?
Citron	I... I must t ell that line to everyone! Let’s hurry back, director!
Izumi	Hey, don’t you dare go around repeating that to people!

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