Mad Party - Mad Hatter Chapter 5
Jun. 27th, 2023 09:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivalriesSeason: Autumn
---
Location: Dance Room
(Thirty minutes later)
Leo: Nice, looks like everybody's got my new song down now!
"Or the Beautiful Golden Drop"—an Alice in Wonderland song specially made for this occasion!
The original title was "Alice in Pass-the-Auditionland", but Sena bugged me into changing it.
Izumi: You really just put any name on your songs. No sense of aesthetics whatsoever.
Anyway, we're going to bowl the judges over with our quality when we perform "Or the Beautiful Golden Drop" at the auditions.
We'll force them into submission using the combined strength of our forces, which is second to none.
First, let me see what our juniors can do ♪
Tsukasa: Heh, it brings back memories to have you two in the practice room at Yumenosaki with us.
Now, shall we practice our choreography before the mirror? Places, everyone—
Izumi: ♪ ♪ ♪
Arashi/Tsukasa: ♪~♪~♪
Leo/Ritsu: ♪~
Izumi: ...Stop right there! Everyone stop!
Tsukasa: Uh, yes? Is something the matter?
Izumi: "Something" doesn't even cover it! You're telling me this is the level Knights is at?
They're not following along with me and Leo-kun at all. And you three—you're letting the underclassmen hold you back from your full ability, aren't you?
Tsukasa: W-Well...
Izumi: Hit the nail on the head, huh? There's nothing more idiotic than letting the worst performers affect the entire group! Bold of you to think you can call yourselves Knights after that!
Leo: Hey, come on now, Sena. You don't have to get mad...
It was only their first try, remember? It happens to the best of us! We don't have to stress out over it.
Izumi: I'm not mad. It was just being strict. It's a waste of time to let mistakes happen without saying anything.
I guess you kids think you're all that because the producer course coddles you so much, but that attitude won't fly in the auditions.
Maybe you could actually try to keep our goals in mind when practicing, huh?
Arashi: (whispering) Izumi-chan seems kind of on edge.
Ritsu: (whispering) Yeah, you can tell he's just fuming inside.
Izumi: You there! I can hear you!
Ritsu: Urgh?! You heard that?
Mgh... You're getting way out of hand, Secchan. Feels like you're forcing your perfectionism on everybody even more than usual.
Arashi: Here comes those bad habits of yours. You shouldn't chase after perfection too hard, you know.
We can keep up with your pace because we've built up some experience, but it's a lot to ask to expect the newbies to adhere to the same standard.
Leo: Yup. When the King changes, so does Knights. It might even be better for us to simplify things for the newbies instead.
Besides, didn't Rittsu say he didn't want us to bicker with each other?
Izumi: Hmph. If we can get through the auditions like this, then it's all well and good.
But if it were me, I'd pick out a few exceptional candidates. In a predicament like this, we should do auditions within Knights and then go at the real deal with a small elite force.
Tsukasa: I cannot agree with that. I know I'm speaking in idealisms, but it still stands that raising the overall level of a unit does not happen overnight.
Governing a kingdom by cutting away one's own subjects is the work of a tyrant, is it not? As the leader of Knights, I must be a good ruler to you all.
Izumi: Hmph. This is all part of your whole "investment for the future" thing, huh? So you don't care about Knights' reputation so long as you're doing your King job?
If we go at the auditions with our whole unit and don't make it, we'd actually be setting Knights back during an important time when we've been trying to gain ground.
And yet you're still thinking about how to "manage the newbies properly", Kasa-kun?
Tsukasa: N-Not at all! I have no intention of being their manager...
I will admit that my sense of duty as King has made me a tad overprotective.
However, I do have my status to consider.
Normally, I perform with Knights as a five-person unit including the both of you who have graduated, but Underland is meant to be put on by our juniors.
To simply revoke that without due consideration would inflict terrible damage on their trust in me as King.
You've a clever head on your shoulders, Sena-senpai... Surely you understand?
Izumi: But if we fail the audition, then that defeats the purpose. Isn't it also the King's job to tell his subjects what they need to hear, even if it's hard?
Tsukasa: Rgh...! So you have chosen resistance until the bitter end?
Izumi: Yup, that's the plan.
If you're so stubborn about this, then let's fight over it. Let's take a leaf from Alice's book and choose a path to take—through battle. That way it's fair and nobody can complain.
Tsukasa: Wh— You wish... to fight?
Izumi: Oh, you didn't know? In Through the Looking Glass, there's a part where the Red Knight and the White Knight fight over Alice.
The one who wins takes Alice for his kingdom—regardless of her will. Winner takes all.
I say we take inspiration from this story. We'll split Knights into "red" and "white" teams, and whoever wins will have their way with the auditions.
If my team wins, then I'll pick some members from my team to represent us. If your team wins, then everybody goes on to the auditions.
—This'll help raise the entire unit's level too, right?
Leo: Hmmm... Having alumni suddenly come barging in and demanding we have a competition all of a sudden is kinda bonkers. I think the King should have the final say on this.
What do you think, Suo~? You say no if you don't wanna do it!
Tsukasa: Ngh... As much as I do not wish to accept it, Sena-senpai speaks the truth.
A preliminary skirmish before the auditions would effectively raise our overall performance quality, whether we like it or not. I would say that holding a competition over our differing opinions is a fair compromise.
Unfortunately, our new song's musical technicality and choreography were crafted with the quality of the original five-member Knights in mind...
So I would like our juniors to approach this duel with that mindset.
Everyone—would it be alright to hold a contest, as Sena-senpai has proposed?
...Thank you for your understanding. Well then, shall we split ourselves into two teams? You are free to join either me or Sena-senpai, whichever you see fit.
For anyone who wishes to decline from picking a side, we can draw lots to sort you into the teams randomly. This way, we can hopefully create two even teams without too much difficulty.
Ritsu: ......
(Mnn... We've completely fallen into Secchan's pace now.)
(If it weren't for the fact that Secchan and Nacchan are on the same wavelength, Nacchan would usually try to stop this from happening.)
(Besides, it's probably hard to speak out when we're graciously helping out with the Cocktail Piano stuff.)
(Then there's Tsukipi~, who's supporting the new King.)
(So... do I have to be the one to speak out again, now that it's come down to it?)
(It's a pain in the butt, to be honest... This just isn't my style.)
(Well, I guess I'll just observe for now.)
(I really hope that forcing this to go ahead isn't going to cause irreversible harm to the relationship of trust within Knights...)
---
< Mad Hatter Chapter 4 | Masterlist | Mad Hatter Chapter 6 >
---
Location: Dance Room
(Thirty minutes later)
Leo: Nice, looks like everybody's got my new song down now!
"Or the Beautiful Golden Drop"—an Alice in Wonderland song specially made for this occasion!
The original title was "Alice in Pass-the-Auditionland", but Sena bugged me into changing it.
Izumi: You really just put any name on your songs. No sense of aesthetics whatsoever.
Anyway, we're going to bowl the judges over with our quality when we perform "Or the Beautiful Golden Drop" at the auditions.
We'll force them into submission using the combined strength of our forces, which is second to none.
First, let me see what our juniors can do ♪
Tsukasa: Heh, it brings back memories to have you two in the practice room at Yumenosaki with us.
Now, shall we practice our choreography before the mirror? Places, everyone—
Izumi: ♪ ♪ ♪
Arashi/Tsukasa: ♪~♪~♪
Leo/Ritsu: ♪~
Izumi: ...Stop right there! Everyone stop!
Tsukasa: Uh, yes? Is something the matter?
Izumi: "Something" doesn't even cover it! You're telling me this is the level Knights is at?
They're not following along with me and Leo-kun at all. And you three—you're letting the underclassmen hold you back from your full ability, aren't you?
Tsukasa: W-Well...
Izumi: Hit the nail on the head, huh? There's nothing more idiotic than letting the worst performers affect the entire group! Bold of you to think you can call yourselves Knights after that!
Leo: Hey, come on now, Sena. You don't have to get mad...
It was only their first try, remember? It happens to the best of us! We don't have to stress out over it.
Izumi: I'm not mad. It was just being strict. It's a waste of time to let mistakes happen without saying anything.
I guess you kids think you're all that because the producer course coddles you so much, but that attitude won't fly in the auditions.
Maybe you could actually try to keep our goals in mind when practicing, huh?
Arashi: (whispering) Izumi-chan seems kind of on edge.
Ritsu: (whispering) Yeah, you can tell he's just fuming inside.
Izumi: You there! I can hear you!
Ritsu: Urgh?! You heard that?
Mgh... You're getting way out of hand, Secchan. Feels like you're forcing your perfectionism on everybody even more than usual.
Arashi: Here comes those bad habits of yours. You shouldn't chase after perfection too hard, you know.
We can keep up with your pace because we've built up some experience, but it's a lot to ask to expect the newbies to adhere to the same standard.
Leo: Yup. When the King changes, so does Knights. It might even be better for us to simplify things for the newbies instead.
Besides, didn't Rittsu say he didn't want us to bicker with each other?
Izumi: Hmph. If we can get through the auditions like this, then it's all well and good.
But if it were me, I'd pick out a few exceptional candidates. In a predicament like this, we should do auditions within Knights and then go at the real deal with a small elite force.
Tsukasa: I cannot agree with that. I know I'm speaking in idealisms, but it still stands that raising the overall level of a unit does not happen overnight.
Governing a kingdom by cutting away one's own subjects is the work of a tyrant, is it not? As the leader of Knights, I must be a good ruler to you all.
Izumi: Hmph. This is all part of your whole "investment for the future" thing, huh? So you don't care about Knights' reputation so long as you're doing your King job?
If we go at the auditions with our whole unit and don't make it, we'd actually be setting Knights back during an important time when we've been trying to gain ground.
And yet you're still thinking about how to "manage the newbies properly", Kasa-kun?
Tsukasa: N-Not at all! I have no intention of being their manager...
I will admit that my sense of duty as King has made me a tad overprotective.
However, I do have my status to consider.
Normally, I perform with Knights as a five-person unit including the both of you who have graduated, but Underland is meant to be put on by our juniors.
To simply revoke that without due consideration would inflict terrible damage on their trust in me as King.
You've a clever head on your shoulders, Sena-senpai... Surely you understand?
Izumi: But if we fail the audition, then that defeats the purpose. Isn't it also the King's job to tell his subjects what they need to hear, even if it's hard?
Tsukasa: Rgh...! So you have chosen resistance until the bitter end?
Izumi: Yup, that's the plan.
If you're so stubborn about this, then let's fight over it. Let's take a leaf from Alice's book and choose a path to take—through battle. That way it's fair and nobody can complain.
Tsukasa: Wh— You wish... to fight?
Izumi: Oh, you didn't know? In Through the Looking Glass, there's a part where the Red Knight and the White Knight fight over Alice.
The one who wins takes Alice for his kingdom—regardless of her will. Winner takes all.
I say we take inspiration from this story. We'll split Knights into "red" and "white" teams, and whoever wins will have their way with the auditions.
If my team wins, then I'll pick some members from my team to represent us. If your team wins, then everybody goes on to the auditions.
—This'll help raise the entire unit's level too, right?
Leo: Hmmm... Having alumni suddenly come barging in and demanding we have a competition all of a sudden is kinda bonkers. I think the King should have the final say on this.
What do you think, Suo~? You say no if you don't wanna do it!
Tsukasa: Ngh... As much as I do not wish to accept it, Sena-senpai speaks the truth.
A preliminary skirmish before the auditions would effectively raise our overall performance quality, whether we like it or not. I would say that holding a competition over our differing opinions is a fair compromise.
Unfortunately, our new song's musical technicality and choreography were crafted with the quality of the original five-member Knights in mind...
So I would like our juniors to approach this duel with that mindset.
Everyone—would it be alright to hold a contest, as Sena-senpai has proposed?
...Thank you for your understanding. Well then, shall we split ourselves into two teams? You are free to join either me or Sena-senpai, whichever you see fit.
For anyone who wishes to decline from picking a side, we can draw lots to sort you into the teams randomly. This way, we can hopefully create two even teams without too much difficulty.
Ritsu: ......
(Mnn... We've completely fallen into Secchan's pace now.)
(If it weren't for the fact that Secchan and Nacchan are on the same wavelength, Nacchan would usually try to stop this from happening.)
(Besides, it's probably hard to speak out when we're graciously helping out with the Cocktail Piano stuff.)
(Then there's Tsukipi~, who's supporting the new King.)
(So... do I have to be the one to speak out again, now that it's come down to it?)
(It's a pain in the butt, to be honest... This just isn't my style.)
(Well, I guess I'll just observe for now.)
(I really hope that forcing this to go ahead isn't going to cause irreversible harm to the relationship of trust within Knights...)
---
< Mad Hatter Chapter 4 | Masterlist | Mad Hatter Chapter 6 >
