Next Door - Open World Chapter 3
Nov. 16th, 2020 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivalriesSeason: Summer
---
[Stairwell]
(Around the same time)
Tsumugi: (Ngh... After working myself to collapse, I managed to finish up the most pressing jobs I have. I really feel like I overextended myself, though.)
(I might be a lot healthier than when I was a starving little kid...)
(And I might know where my real limits are now, but...)
(I'm not that young anymore, really~ Anyone would get worried if they saw me like this.)
(Just like how the outside world sees NewDi: a frail, powerless little child, all skin and bones.)
(In that case, no matter how one stubbornly insists that they're fine, it wouldn't change anything.)
(This situation doesn't seem "fine" by any normal standards, after all; rather, it's a social duty to reach out and try to help people instead of leaving it be.)
(I mean, it is a strategy to lean on that weak little creature image on purpose and reap more benefits than you really need... though that's a bit like fraud.)
(Still, thanks to those underhanded methods, I think I can run the agency without a problem for the time being. I'm working pretty smartly, I'd say.)
(With support from other agencies and the Producer Association's intervention—)
(We're slowly regaining our strength, and now we're able to move along with help.)
(Most of the stuff I'd been handling by myself—management, laying down the groundwork, and financial planning—has been taken up by the Producer Association.)
(Idols shouldn't be doing that kind of work to begin with, after all.)
(Now that the association will be taking care of it for me, I've managed to cut down on a huge part of my workload.)
(It's a little dangerous and nerve-wracking to think that the other agencies—meaning Eichi-kun or Saegusa-kun or Keito-kun or Rei-kun—might grab hold of the reins...)
(And the other units in NewDi probably won't like it, but...)
(If it's the neutral Producer Association, then the others might think it's okay to leave the helm to someone else, to an extent.)
(I mean, in the end the association is still an outside organization, so it's impossible to entrust everything to them.)
(But with this, we should be able to survive for a while.)
(Or rather—I should finally be able to focus on my idol work with Switch.)
(I'm sorry for taking so long and making you both worry—Natsume-kun, Sora-kun.)
(It's almost all wrapped up now, though! We can finally start working toward our idol dreams in earnest!)
(You both understand, right—the reason I worked so hard?)
(You don't think Tsumugi Aoba's lost his interest in being an idol and dropped out of your inner circle, right?)
(...Mrgh, now I'm a little worried. It seems that it's hard for people to tell what I'm thinking... Maybe there's a misunderstanding.)
(I wonder why, though. I always make sure to be honest and say exactly what's on my mind.)
(No... I can't expect everyone to perfectly understand everything I say.)
(I just need to keep saying it until they do.)
(I've been slacking on that with the excuse of being busy, so I don't have the right to start claiming no one understands me.)
(Everyone might just be confused—or at the very least, concerned.)
(If that's the case, then I have to apologize and try my very best to convey my feelings to make up for all the time we lost until now.)
(I have to, so we can spend our time together and chase after the dreams we share.)
(...Yeah. I gotta do my best.)
Natsume: ...What are you standing here for, Senpai? You're in the way.
Tsumugi: Eeek?! N-Natsume-kun? What are you doing walking around here?
Natsume: I could ask you the same, Senpai. Why are you here? Did your parents never teach you how to take the elevator?
Tsumugi: You're pulling the parent thing again~? It's not good to make people angry on purpose, you know. You won't make any friends that way.
Natsume: I don't need friends. At the very least, their presence does not impact how my idol work goes.
Tsumugi: That's true, but... it's tough to be an idol twenty-four seven, three hundred sixty-five days a year.
I think it's best to make your private life fulfilling, too.
Natsume: I don't want to hear that from you... Anyway, I always know where you are, thanks to the idiot detector—also known as a GPS—that I put on you in secret.
Tsumugi: Wh—When did you do that?!
Natsume: Heh, with a little hocus pocus, I implanted a metal chip into your spinal cord.
Tsumugi: Isn't that what aliens do?!
Natsume: I'm joking.
Either way, I was looking for you because I wanted to ask you something, and that's when I found a little roly-poly hairball falling down the stairway.
Tsumugi: Roly-poly hairball? Isn't that a youkai or something? [1]
Natsume: Sure. ...Not like I care, but you should really avoid using the stairs when you're tired.
If you get dizzy, you could fall down and die. Is this another of your weird rituals?
Tsumugi: No, I... was sitting at a desk all day doing work, so I thought I should get in some exercise.
Natsume: Are you trying to imitate Ishida Mitsunari's famous refusal to eat dried persimmons before his execution? [2] You won't care how much exercise you're getting if you're dead. Think about it for a moment.
Tsumugi: Okaaay~ Sorry for worrying you all the time.
Natsume: I don't want to hear your apologies—I want to see results. Fix your lifestyle, or I'll kick you down these stairs myself.
Tsumugi: Hehe, no you won't. ♪
Natsume: I dunno about that~ I've inherited terrible habits from my master. I love to trouble and scare people more than anything, you know~?
Tsumugi: Your master... Uh, Hibiki-kun, right?
Natsume: Exactly. I'm the successor to the jester of fine.
...Ugh, no, that makes me sound like I'm the disciple to your disciple. Never mind.
Tsumugi: Huh?
Natsume: Anyway, Senpai. I assume... you've basically got everything wrapped up?
Tsumugi: Wait, wrapped up what? I mean, it's true that I got through a huge chunk of my work...
Natsume: Hmph. You think I'm a stupid little child, don't you? It's easy to guess at your intentions from the actions you've taken.
You've been setting down the foundations so you'll be able to solely focus on your idol work from now on, right?
Tsumugi: Oh, thank goodness. So you do understand?
I was a little worried there~ You're pretty hit-or-miss with me, Natsume-kun—like you tend to make weird assumptions and then get all dejected about them.
Natsume: Like in Wonder Game, right? It's rather annoying to remember that, but that's exactly why I'll never make that same mistake again.
No, rather—I'll never let the same tragedy happen again, no matter what it takes.
---
[1] Possibly Kesaran-Pasaran. Natsume originally says "goron-goron", which, to my limited knowledge, isn't the name of a youkai.
[2] Apparently there is a legend that Sengoku-period samurai Ishida Mitsunari refused to eat persimmons right before his execution because persimmons are bad for the body. This story is supposed to highlight (and in a way, criticize) Ishida's will to take care of his body, even when it is doomed to die.
Entirely unrelated to this story: persimmons seem to be good for you, actually.
---
< Open World Chapter 2 || Masterlist || Open World Chapter 4 >
---
[Stairwell]
(Around the same time)
Tsumugi: (Ngh... After working myself to collapse, I managed to finish up the most pressing jobs I have. I really feel like I overextended myself, though.)
(I might be a lot healthier than when I was a starving little kid...)
(And I might know where my real limits are now, but...)
(I'm not that young anymore, really~ Anyone would get worried if they saw me like this.)
(Just like how the outside world sees NewDi: a frail, powerless little child, all skin and bones.)
(In that case, no matter how one stubbornly insists that they're fine, it wouldn't change anything.)
(This situation doesn't seem "fine" by any normal standards, after all; rather, it's a social duty to reach out and try to help people instead of leaving it be.)
(I mean, it is a strategy to lean on that weak little creature image on purpose and reap more benefits than you really need... though that's a bit like fraud.)
(Still, thanks to those underhanded methods, I think I can run the agency without a problem for the time being. I'm working pretty smartly, I'd say.)
(With support from other agencies and the Producer Association's intervention—)
(We're slowly regaining our strength, and now we're able to move along with help.)
(Most of the stuff I'd been handling by myself—management, laying down the groundwork, and financial planning—has been taken up by the Producer Association.)
(Idols shouldn't be doing that kind of work to begin with, after all.)
(Now that the association will be taking care of it for me, I've managed to cut down on a huge part of my workload.)
(It's a little dangerous and nerve-wracking to think that the other agencies—meaning Eichi-kun or Saegusa-kun or Keito-kun or Rei-kun—might grab hold of the reins...)
(And the other units in NewDi probably won't like it, but...)
(If it's the neutral Producer Association, then the others might think it's okay to leave the helm to someone else, to an extent.)
(I mean, in the end the association is still an outside organization, so it's impossible to entrust everything to them.)
(But with this, we should be able to survive for a while.)
(Or rather—I should finally be able to focus on my idol work with Switch.)
(I'm sorry for taking so long and making you both worry—Natsume-kun, Sora-kun.)
(It's almost all wrapped up now, though! We can finally start working toward our idol dreams in earnest!)
(You both understand, right—the reason I worked so hard?)
(You don't think Tsumugi Aoba's lost his interest in being an idol and dropped out of your inner circle, right?)
(...Mrgh, now I'm a little worried. It seems that it's hard for people to tell what I'm thinking... Maybe there's a misunderstanding.)
(I wonder why, though. I always make sure to be honest and say exactly what's on my mind.)
(No... I can't expect everyone to perfectly understand everything I say.)
(I just need to keep saying it until they do.)
(I've been slacking on that with the excuse of being busy, so I don't have the right to start claiming no one understands me.)
(Everyone might just be confused—or at the very least, concerned.)
(If that's the case, then I have to apologize and try my very best to convey my feelings to make up for all the time we lost until now.)
(I have to, so we can spend our time together and chase after the dreams we share.)
(...Yeah. I gotta do my best.)
Natsume: ...What are you standing here for, Senpai? You're in the way.
Tsumugi: Eeek?! N-Natsume-kun? What are you doing walking around here?
Natsume: I could ask you the same, Senpai. Why are you here? Did your parents never teach you how to take the elevator?
Tsumugi: You're pulling the parent thing again~? It's not good to make people angry on purpose, you know. You won't make any friends that way.
Natsume: I don't need friends. At the very least, their presence does not impact how my idol work goes.
Tsumugi: That's true, but... it's tough to be an idol twenty-four seven, three hundred sixty-five days a year.
I think it's best to make your private life fulfilling, too.
Natsume: I don't want to hear that from you... Anyway, I always know where you are, thanks to the idiot detector—also known as a GPS—that I put on you in secret.
Tsumugi: Wh—When did you do that?!
Natsume: Heh, with a little hocus pocus, I implanted a metal chip into your spinal cord.
Tsumugi: Isn't that what aliens do?!
Natsume: I'm joking.
Either way, I was looking for you because I wanted to ask you something, and that's when I found a little roly-poly hairball falling down the stairway.
Tsumugi: Roly-poly hairball? Isn't that a youkai or something? [1]
Natsume: Sure. ...Not like I care, but you should really avoid using the stairs when you're tired.
If you get dizzy, you could fall down and die. Is this another of your weird rituals?
Tsumugi: No, I... was sitting at a desk all day doing work, so I thought I should get in some exercise.
Natsume: Are you trying to imitate Ishida Mitsunari's famous refusal to eat dried persimmons before his execution? [2] You won't care how much exercise you're getting if you're dead. Think about it for a moment.
Tsumugi: Okaaay~ Sorry for worrying you all the time.
Natsume: I don't want to hear your apologies—I want to see results. Fix your lifestyle, or I'll kick you down these stairs myself.
Tsumugi: Hehe, no you won't. ♪
Natsume: I dunno about that~ I've inherited terrible habits from my master. I love to trouble and scare people more than anything, you know~?
Tsumugi: Your master... Uh, Hibiki-kun, right?
Natsume: Exactly. I'm the successor to the jester of fine.
...Ugh, no, that makes me sound like I'm the disciple to your disciple. Never mind.
Tsumugi: Huh?
Natsume: Anyway, Senpai. I assume... you've basically got everything wrapped up?
Tsumugi: Wait, wrapped up what? I mean, it's true that I got through a huge chunk of my work...
Natsume: Hmph. You think I'm a stupid little child, don't you? It's easy to guess at your intentions from the actions you've taken.
You've been setting down the foundations so you'll be able to solely focus on your idol work from now on, right?
Tsumugi: Oh, thank goodness. So you do understand?
I was a little worried there~ You're pretty hit-or-miss with me, Natsume-kun—like you tend to make weird assumptions and then get all dejected about them.
Natsume: Like in Wonder Game, right? It's rather annoying to remember that, but that's exactly why I'll never make that same mistake again.
No, rather—I'll never let the same tragedy happen again, no matter what it takes.
---
[1] Possibly Kesaran-Pasaran. Natsume originally says "goron-goron", which, to my limited knowledge, isn't the name of a youkai.
[2] Apparently there is a legend that Sengoku-period samurai Ishida Mitsunari refused to eat persimmons right before his execution because persimmons are bad for the body. This story is supposed to highlight (and in a way, criticize) Ishida's will to take care of his body, even when it is doomed to die.
Entirely unrelated to this story: persimmons seem to be good for you, actually.
---
< Open World Chapter 2 || Masterlist || Open World Chapter 4 >
