Act I

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(…I–I can’t take this anymore! The tension between them is so thick I could it with a knife!)

What’s up, Mako-chin? You keep squirming around… You need to go to the bathroom?

I told you to do that kinda thing earlier—You’ll bother people if you’re all antsy before the show, y’know~?

Oh no, it’s not that—

(whispering) Um, Nito-senpai, did something happen between you and him?

Him? Him who?

Wait, you mean Itsuki…? We used to be in a unit together, so I guess things are a little awkward right now.

Ohh, Valkyrie, right…

I never pried too deeply ‘cause I thought it’d be a bad idea to ask about it, but why did you switch units, Nito-senpai?

It feels like a waste, almost… Valkyrie used to be crazy popular.

That’s all in the past. …But well, there’s a lot of reasons, but it doesn’t have anything to do with you. Don’t worry so much about it.

You two. The curtain has risen; refrain from talking amongst yourselves. Honestly, do you know nothing about how to behave in a theater?

“He’s right, you know~ Let’s settle down so we can enjoy the show. Shh… ♪”

Gweh? Um? Why’re you doing ventriloquism all of a sudden? I can’t play off the joke if you set it up without any warning…!

I told you to be quiet. Well, the guest seating is quite a ways away from the general seating, but nevertheless—a theater is built so that sound resonates.

People will be angry if they can’t concentrate on the play because of even the slightest noises disturbing them.

And I’m sure you’ll get a stern talking-to from Wataru. He’s even more of a perfectionist than I am when it comes to the stage.

He asked me to make the costumes, and yet he picked at every last minute detail up to the last second.

If it had been anyone other than Wataru, I would have quit halfway through. I could hardly stand it.

Ohh, so you made the costumes for this, Itsuki-senpai…?

And you helped out with them too, right, new girl? ♪

Oh, how long as that girl been here? She never gives off any presence; it’s offputting, as if she were a ghost.

“Anzu-chan! Will you sit with us? We can watch the show together ♪”

…Gh?! Don’t you dare touch my Mademoiselle, girl!

You’re such a pain… But I’m glad you’ve finally recovered enough to make costumes again, Itsuki.

You couldn’t even hold a knitting needle for a while there—I was a bit worried, y’know?

Hmph. How low I’ve fallen, to have you worry for me.

…I’m not one to speculate, but if I had to guess, I’d say Wataru requested my help with the intention of helping my recovery along.

That’s just the kind of man he is, after all.

I would imagine there were plenty of costumes in the drama club or the theater course that were suitable for as standard-fare as Romeo and Juliet.

So there was hardly a reason for him to come to me for them, you see.

Hmm. Yeah, sounds like something Wataru-chin would do. You wouldn’t think it, but he really is considerate of other people.

Fufu. Well, if you just keep moping around, your body’ll start to break down too. It’s better for your health to immerse yourself in the things you like.

Actually, even from a distance those costumes are incredible. Your perfectionism strikes again~ ♪

They’re so beautiful… You haven’t gotten rusty at all, Itsuki.

Have you gone blind? Nothing about the costumes is even remotely acceptable. Of course, I haven’t yet forgotten the basics of sewing…

But I still have too many complains about them. My fingers seem to have grown quite rusty from disuse.

And then Wataru just had to come and whisk them away, claiming the deadline had come. Oh, how shameful…

I never wished to allow such unfinished creations to see the light of day.

Quit your moaning and groaning. Look, they’re on stage already. All we can do now is zip it and watch.

Umm, Hey Nito-senpai… Do we not have to do anything for the play? We are on the broadcasting committee, after all.

Like sound and lighting and stuff… I didn’t think they’d just let us come for free. I figured we’d be doing some kinda work for them.

Nah, we’re fine for now. Looks like the theater course pulled some stagehands together for that. If we go up there, we’ll just be in the way.

But it’ll be a good reference for our own work on the committee, so if you get the chance, make sure you watch what they do and how they do it.

We’re essentially just guests this time though, so we can just sit back and relax.

Things sure were crazy leading up to the performance though, right?

So much unscheduled work on top of the PR work we were already doing as the broadcasting committee.

So I bet the invitation today was an apology and a thanks for all of that.

Ra*bits lent them Mitsuru-chin too, so it doubles as a special compensation for having him perform~ ♪

Ohh… Your Ra*bits kids are playing the chorus, right?

I remember Mashiro-kun’s part of the drama club, but now that you mention it, Tenma-kun doesn’t have anything to do with them.

Right. But while he was helping Tomo-chin out, he heard they needed one more guy, and I guess he wound up on stage with them.

I don’t really know all the details, really.

But I’m surprised—It looks like he’s doing his best up there… I sure am proud of him ♪