Chikage Utsuki/Festival of Blooming

Roommate Mission! Chikage as Itaru

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Chikage	I’m home—.
Itaru	HUH? Freaking small fry! TAKE THAT!
Chikage	…
	(I’ll just change clothes for now.)
	(Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten this evening yet.)
	I had lunch late, so it’s not like I need to…)
Itaru	Welcome back, senpai.
	GJ with the late-night overtime~.
Chikage	You noticed I came back?
	That was some huge lag.
Itaru	I reached a good point to stop, so I figured I should say something.
Chikage	Hmm. A good stopping point, you say?
Itaru	What is it?
Chikage	Nothing.
	By the way, is that a new game?
Itaru	I left on time and got my hands on it.
	It’s a famous numbered title, and this is the first new release in 6 years.
	Just give me 3 days and I’ll lend it to you.
Chikage	I’m good, thanks.
	Before you try to enable me, shouldn’t you eat those cup noodles sitting on the table? I’m sure they’re soggy by now.
Itaru	Ah crap. I forgot.
	You can have it—.
Chikage	No, thank you.
Itaru	Shot down instantly.
	You know, this brand is good when it’s a little soggy.
Chikage	What a great discovery born from sloppiness.
	I’m going to have something to eat in the lounge. You can take it easy.
Kazunari	Add that cheese~ parsley~ and also…
Chikage	Kazunari?
Kazunari	Chikachon! You gonna use the kitchen?
	Hold on a sec. I’m just finishing up~.
Chikage	A late-night snack while you’re working?
Kazunari	Yep, you got me~.
	And on that note, voila!
	Tomato soymilk risotto with oatmeal!
	I took a stab at making it since I saw a recipe vid on inste.
Chikage	I’m sure Kumon and Azami would enjoy that.
Kazunari	I know, right? Mayhaps I’ll make it for breakfast tomorrow?
	Ah. Do you wanna try some too, Chikachon?
	I have extra ingredients, so I can whip some up right away.
Chikage	…The difference between the soggy cup noodles is amazing.
Kazunari	???
Chikage	Oh, no. It’s nothing.
	I suppose I’ll have some.
Kazunari	I made soymilk curry risotto for Chikachon~!
	I just added curry powder though.
Chikage	Thank you.
	I’m digging in.
	…It tastes great.
	It’s more filling than I expected.
Kazunari	Great~. Should I bring some to Itarun for a midnight snack?
	He said he was gonna pull an all-nighter.
Chikage	No, he’ll be fine. He has his soggy cup noodles.
	Besides, I doubt he has time for that.
Kazunari	You think?
Chikage	He was a lot rowdier than usual while playing that game.
	I suspect it’s because the new game he bought was harder than he expected, so it’s not going very well for him.
	He said he reached a good stopping point. But I bet he just gave up for the moment since he couldn’t win.
Kazunari	I see~. Mhm, mhm.
Chikage	Are you grinning over there?
Kazunari	It’s just~, I was thinking your life as roomies seems to be going well.
Chikage	Really now?
Kazunari	With your personality, I assumed you’d grumble or complain more about sharing a room with Itarun…
	Or that one of you would pack up and leave… I think all of us were a teensy bit worried inside~. Myself included.
Chikage	I think I do grumble and complain often. But, well, you're right. I suppose I've never thought about calling it quits or switching rooms.
Kazunari	See? That’s a good sign, isn’t it!
Chikage	The bar is on the floor.
Kazunari	Anyways, have you decided what you’re gonna do for the roommate mission?
Chikage	Not yet. I still have to think.
Kazunari	Chikachon playing Itarun, huh~…
	Yep! I can’t imagine it at all. I know it’s gonna be an absolute hoot though!
	How ‘bout you? Think it’s gonna be hard?
Chikage	Playing Chigasaki will be… well, I feel reluctant, but I don’t think it will be difficult.
	…However, I doubt simply acting will clear this mission in the true sense of the word.
	Having said that, I don’t think I share a bad relationship with Chigasaki. The things I’d like him to fix are…
	I already tell him about them all the time, whether it sticks with him or not.
	At this point, I don’t think I can think of anything I’d like to say, change, or understand about him by acting as him.
Kazunari	Hm, hm…
	In that case—.
	Doesn’t that mean you’re satisfied with the way things are now?

Itaru	Here you go.
Chikage	…
Itaru	So dirty. Is this actually washed?
	…Can you stop giving me that look?
	They’re freshly washed. Rest assured.
Chikage	I’ll borrow them for a second then.
	Heh, they’re comfortable. These clothes.
Itaru	Is this how a kid feels when they lend their clothes to their parents…
Chikage	Oh, right. I’d like to borrow a controller.
Itaru	Well, I do use those.
	Here you go. It’s okay if this one breaks.
Chikage	I’m not going to act that violently.
	Or perhaps I should exaggerate my acting a bit?
Itaru	Please put a cap on it.
Chikage	Understood.
	Alright, I’m starting.
	“Ha? Time out?
	It’s a Friday night, there’s no way nobody’s on. Damn normies enjoying their lives.”
	“I’m gonna banish you shitty small fry to the shadow realm.”
	“Rip in peace in pieces.”
Itaru	(That’s probably me when my match up isn’t going well, or when I'm pissed off because I can't beat a lower ranked opponent…)
Chikage	“Hell yeah! You really thought, huh? Trash.”
Itaru	(Wait, this trash-talking vocabulary…!)
Chikage	“Ah, senpai came back without me even realizing, huh?
	GJ with the corporate slaving.”
	“Woah, it’s already 2AM…”
Itaru	(Here’s the turn of events I hate…
	It’s me when I’m torn between sleeping or eating, but I’m doing neither.”
Chikage	“Should I have some ramen?
	Do you want some too, senpai? I’ll share.”
	“Eh, clean up my garbage? Of course I will.”
	“Tomorrow or the day after that.”
	And scene.
	That was typical Chigasaki. What do you think?
Itaru	…It was good. I’m not aware of my typical movements or facial expressions. But I just naturally accepted that was me.
Chikge	Good to hear.
Itaru	That’s why I have mixed feelings though.
	When I'm shown my undisciplined self objectively, it’s not that… I don’t feel sorry or a little ashamed.
Chikage	Do you understand what I’m trying to convey to you?
Itaru	“Re-evaluate how you live”, right?
Chikage	You’re not wrong. But I’ll give you 40 points.
Itaru	Here comes the sudden scoring system.
Chikage	Even you yourself feel ashamed of your lifestyle…
	But, even so, I have never thought I wanted to switch rooms.
	To my great surprise.
Itaru	We all know that’s a lie.
Chikage	I’m not counting the times it’s merely crossed my mind.
	You can say what you feel out loud. And you can relieve your stress and lift your own spirits by creating a space to release your emotions…
	I think that’s one good thing about you that I don’t have.
	I wonder if that means in a way, I envy you.
Itaru	—.
Chikage	Of course I do want you to improve and fix your lifestyle.
Itaru	That stings.
Chikage	In any case, you can just stay as you are.
	Surprisingly, I don’t dislike seeing you being so free, Chigasaki.
Itaru	Seriously?
Chikage	Probably.
Itaru	Probably?
	Well… thank you.
	I look forward to continuing living together.
Chikage	I’ll be in your care.
Itaru	Shall we take the instant photo now?
	I’ll leave the pose to you.
Chikage	Understood.
Itaru	Here goes.
	3, 2, 1—.
	*click*
Chikage	What do you think? I tried to be you.
Itaru	82 points.
Chikage	I feel like I just barely achieved an “A” rank in this minigame of dodging-the-question.
Itaru	Oh, that’s my roomie for you. Correct.
Chikage	By the way, I ate this to prepare for my role.
Itaru	Oh, that’s the cup noodles I like.
Chikage	You told me it tastes good when it’s a little soggy, so I made sure to leave it a little longer before I ate it.
Itaru	It was good, right?
Chikage	35 points.
Itaru	That’s the lowest score of the day…

Anna