| Banri | Man, I’m exhausted... |
| Hm? |
KAZUNARI MIYOSHI☆ I handed the notebook to Hyodoru ♪ Make sure it gets passed around the Autumn Troupe! |
|
KAZUNARI MIYOSHI☆ Oh, by the way, I’ll hand you the pamphlets and stuff you asked for later! Feel free to consult me any time! |
|
| Banri | (I need to seriously start considering all kinds of things...) |
| (But Hyodo’s writing in the notebook first, huh... He can’t be writing anything good.) |
| |
| Juza | .... |
| Banri | (He’s sitting completely still in front of the notebook. Does that mean he’s done...?) |
| What, it’s still blank? |
| Juza | !! |
| Shut up. Don’t sneak in like that. |
| Banri | I just walked in normally. |
| Hey, you’re not gonna write anything decent anyway, so just hurry up and hand that to me. |
| Juza | The hell? |
| Banri | Why don’t you just make that your message? Say it’s invisible ink. |
| Juza | You fucker—. |
| Banri | If not, hurry up and write something already. Everyone’s waiting. |
| Juza | —I know. I would’ve written it already if you hadn’t gotten in my way. |
| Banri | Yeah, yeah. |
| (A message to Director-chan... wonder what I should write.) |
| (But one year, huh... I’m surprised I lasted that long. I never did for any club activity—or anything at all.) |
| (Might be the first time I’ve been in the same community for so long.) |
| (When my sis came back home a little while back, I told her that I was still doing theater, and she was surprised.) |
| (It really is strange. When it comes to acting, no matter how much time passes, I just never get bored.) |
| (I wasn’t the least bit interested in theater, but...) |
| .... |
| Juza | .... |
| Banri | (If I hadn’t followed Hyodo around back then... no, if I hadn’t picked a fight with Hyodo, I never would’ve gotten close to theater.) |
| (If Director-chan hadn’t chased after me when I left the dorms. If I hadn’t seen Hyodo’s portrait...) |
| (Then I probably wouldn’t be acting now.) |
| |
| Banri | “Director-chan, please tell me. How can I beat Hyodo?” |
| Izumi | “Banri-kun....” |
| Banri | “Hey, what do I need to do?” |
| Izumi | “...First, you need to face acting head-on. And you need to think, “I don't want to lose”—you already have that much.” |
| Banri | “....” |
| “I don't get why, but seeing Hyodo's portrait fired me up. I got just as excited as I did when I fought him and lost.” |
| “I can't end it like this. I won't let it end.” |
| |
| Banri | (If the past me saw the current me—creating a stage with my teammates, with all my might—he’d probably never believe it.) |
| (Performing with these guys in the Autumn Troupe... the excitement I feel behind the curtain when I’m waiting for my turn on stage, the way my heart shakes during the curtain call of the final performance...) |
| (Back then, I didn’t know any of that.) |
| (I’m here, still doing theater today, because of chance—because of a whole series of coincidences.) |
| (No—it’s not chance. How should I put it? This is what they call fa—.) |
| (...No, what am I thinking.) |
| Juza | .... |
| Banri | (It’s been a pretty long time—is he done now?) |
| Oi, it’s about time—it’s still blank!? |
| |
| Juza | Here, I’m done. |
| Banri | Nn? |
| Juza | Why the hell are you sleeping? |
| Banri | You made me wait this long! I thought dawn was gonna break. |
| Juza | Hurry up and write. The next person is waiting. |
| Banri | That’s what I said earlier!! |
| Juza | Hmph. |
| Banri | Tch. |
| .... |
| Juza | (He started writing right away. Even though I spent so much time thinking about what to write.) |
| (Tch, he really is a skilfull guy...) |
| (His acting, too—he wasn’t the least bit interested, but he handled it with no problem even during our audition.) |
| (Even so, I thought I definitely couldn’t lose to someone who wasn’t interested. I never intended to lose.) |
| (But, you know, at some point, this guy’s acting started to change.) |
| (When he got serious about theater—it pisses me off to admit it, but—his acting got way better than before.) |
| (That’s why I thought “I can’t lose,” even more than before. I got fired up; it motivated me.) |
| (To be honest, I think my acting improved in part thanks to this guy’s acting. But it pisses me off, so I’ll never tell him.) |
| (Every time I see his acting improve, I’m forced to consider our difference in potential.) |
| (...I’m forced to think about talent.) |
| (Still, I’m truly grateful to Director, who recognized my feelings towards acting, even though I had no talent. I owe her a lot.) |
| |
| Juza | “—I know I suck. But I wanna act no matter what. Please let me join the troupe.” |
| Izumi | “Eh...” |
| Juza | “....Please, I’m serious.” |
| Izumi | “...When it comes to acting, the most important things are earnestness and a desire to improve. We’d love to have you.” |
| |
| Juza | (Thanks to Director, I’m standing on the stage I always dreamed of. Settsu will probably never know... how happy that makes me.) |
| (But that’s precisely why I’m gonna improve my acting in my own way. In a different way than Settsu...) |
| (My acting still has a long way to go, but... I’ve yet to give back to Director.) |
| Banri | Alrighty, done~. |
| I finished a hundred times faster than you. |
| Juza | Let’s say you took ten minutes. I didn’t take a thousand. |
| Banri | It’s a figure of speech! |
| Juza | You just probably just listed out some random stuff. |
| Banri | The hell? It’s way better than what you wrote. |
| Juza | Hmph. If you’re done, hurry up and hand it to the next guy. Everyone’s waiting. |
| Banri | Again, you’re not one to talk! |
| |
| Banri | Dammit, we lost a ton of time thanks to Hyodo. |
| Manager | Ahh, busy, busy... |
| Banri | ? |
| Manager | I need to hurry... |
| Banri | What are you hurrying for? |
| Manager | !? |
| I-I’m not a suspicious person... I mean, I’m not doing anything suspicious, no, not at all, of course not, haha.... |
| Banri | Now you look like you’re trying to be suspicious. |
| Manager | W-well, I have to prepare all sorts of things, so I’ll be taking my leave! |
| Banri | Prepare? We don’t have a performance coming up—what’s he preparing for? |
