Next Door - Epilogue 5
Feb. 28th, 2021 01:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivalriesCW: dirty humor, weapons/violence mention
Season: Summer
---
[Next Door stage]
Sora & Tsumugi: ♪~♪~♪
Sora & Natsume: ♪~♪~♪
Leo: ...Still feels like those guys are just starting out, huh. I was a lil' on edge watching them, but it looks like they're finally ready.
From now on, I'm sure the three of them are gonna put all their strength into doing what they wanna do.
Ritsu: Yup. Sounds just like Switch, huh? That's what magical rituals are supposed to be, anyway—
Making careful, intricate plans so that you won't mess up a single step... then paying attention to the tiniest details as you carry it out—it'll create a miracle.
When you're doing it with someone else, it'll never work out unless you trust each other from the depths of your very souls. In that sense, I'm pretty sure those three will be just fine.
Arashi: Oh my, is this about love? [1]
Ritsu: Yup. It's all about love.
Leo: Wahaha! The future is born from love!
Arashi: Oh, so you were talking about making love?
Leo: No?! Why does everybody always jump to that? GFK was always talking about that stuff too! It was the worst!
I hate dirty jokes! Screw locker room talk!
Arashi: Heh, I agree with you there. The children who will build the future from here on out might grow up never knowing that looong ago, there was once a world like that.
That makes me a little envious. But for now, both knights and magicians have no choice but to live on in this world, which will eventually turn into nothing but a fairy tale.
Tsukasa: Ahem, ahem. (clearing his throat) You all seem to think everything's fine and taken care of now...
But this isn't over yet. Until the curtains fall, let us give our very best as idols.
Ritsu: Yeah, I know. But we're the intruders here, so probably best not to meddle too much, yeah?
Arashi: Agreed. It's plain as day how this Next Door Judgment is going to turn out, anyway. ...You don't have any intention to win, do you, Leo-kun?
Leo: Yup! It's all set up for me to lose. At first I did panic and run off when you guys caught me... That was just a reflex, though.
I just thought I'd be made into a machine that only mass produces weapons on request, like I was in the past.
But there's no way you guys would push that on me, right?
When I calmed down and stopped to think about it, I realized you're the ones who're probably in the right here.
In the first place, I can't really even trust my own thoughts.
They got me in huge trouble in the past, after all.
I'd thought I was swaggering around in some fancy outfit, but I was actually naked—and to top it off, I was soaked in the blood of the people I'd trampled over.
I'm not letting that happen again, ever.
In this show's opening, I said I wanna go off and do whatever I want, but I already know that if I did, I'd definitely regret it.
Sure, there are probably a handful of folks out there who grit their teeth and push through the pain for the sake of justice or dreams.
Like Tenshi or Keito or Rei or that red-haired guy from Crazy:B—but I'm not thinking of anything that grand.
My dream's been the same since I was a little kid mimicking the idols on TV for my cute baby sister.
If I can just create music I like and make somebody smile with it, then that's all I need.
But everybody else wants so much more than that, right?
So much that they'd go to war, fight over money, and after all that strife, build a humongous building like ES.
And even then, they keep stretching out their hands, wanting more and more and more.
That's not really a bad thing, though; that's just how humans are. It's not about good and evil, or about right and wrong—not even about likes and dislikes.
That's simply how things are.
But I just feel like there's something lacking there, like the whole thing's broken somewhere.
'Cause a load of sad and painful stuff happened, y'know?
So... I'm good. I don't need my share. I'll give it to whoever wants it.
A long time ago, there was something that should've been obtainable, but a huge war blotted it out from view.
Guns and bombs never should've been invented. I don't care if they saved some people's lives.
I don't care if they've contributed to the development of mankind—if even one person is left crying because of it, then we're all going to hell together.
I'm sure Einstein and Nobel felt the same way.
That's why, after making a historic discovery, they spent the rest of their lives struggling to make up for it.
After unfairly stealing someone else's share, they handed out the things that other people desire, even if it meant slicing off their own flesh.
That's the fate of somebody who messed it all up and changed the world—the fate of a genius.
And that's what I'll do too.
Izumi: Are you stupid?
Leo: ...Yeah, I'm stupid. Don't you know that already?
Izumi: Yep. They say genius and stupidity are two sides of the same coin, and that's real apparent whenever I'm with you.
But that made some things click, at least—like why you let some idiot like GFK wring you dry, just like back in our Chess days.
GFK aside, there were also all those crappy songs he tried to use you to sell...
You couldn't refuse them; rather, you wanted to sell them, even if you had to use your name.
You helped out because you wanted people to hear them...
...Thinking that if those songs could make even a single person smile, then they shouldn't be lost, right?
Leo: ...Did you hear about all that from Mama?
Izumi: Uh-huh. He seems to think I'm your parent or something, even though I'm probably the one who hurt you the most.
Leo: Nah, you're the only one who believes that, Sena.
Izumi: But if I believe it, then it's obviously correct, right?
Who cares what other people think? The one who thinks about me the most in the world isn't Papa or Mama or even you—it's me.
I'm only interested in myself. Nothing else matters.
Leo: Well you've got it down pat, huh. That's why I like ya, Sena~ You're just pure and beautiful. ♪
Izumi: Yeah, thanks. But you know, ever since I entered Yumenosaki, met everyone, and started performing with Knights...
I mean, I'm twisted at my very core, so I didn't just suddenly wake up a philanthropist one day or something, but...
Somehow, I ended up thinking "Knights" is also "me". And I love myself.
If I didn't, I wouldn't have survived among all those dimwits who just dish out empty flattery.
Either way, I'm pretty serious when I say I love you all.
I'm sure that was obvious back in Repayment Fes—so I'll be honest, instead of trying to say something weird and mean.
I really wanted to say this at the very, very end to catch you off guard, but...
It's all up in the air now, so it'd be dumb trying to wait for the perfect timing anymore.
---
[1] For what it's worth, Arashi uses the same phrasing (愛の話; ai no hanashi) as in the final lines of Horror Night Halloween Epilogue 4. While the Japanese is the same, unfortunately I couldn't use the exact same phrasing based on how I translated it before. On a similar note, "making love" was originally エッチの話; ecchi no hanashi.
---
< Epilogue 4 || Masterlist || Epilogue 6 >
Season: Summer
---
[Next Door stage]
Sora & Tsumugi: ♪~♪~♪
Sora & Natsume: ♪~♪~♪
Leo: ...Still feels like those guys are just starting out, huh. I was a lil' on edge watching them, but it looks like they're finally ready.
From now on, I'm sure the three of them are gonna put all their strength into doing what they wanna do.
Ritsu: Yup. Sounds just like Switch, huh? That's what magical rituals are supposed to be, anyway—
Making careful, intricate plans so that you won't mess up a single step... then paying attention to the tiniest details as you carry it out—it'll create a miracle.
When you're doing it with someone else, it'll never work out unless you trust each other from the depths of your very souls. In that sense, I'm pretty sure those three will be just fine.
Arashi: Oh my, is this about love? [1]
Ritsu: Yup. It's all about love.
Leo: Wahaha! The future is born from love!
Arashi: Oh, so you were talking about making love?
Leo: No?! Why does everybody always jump to that? GFK was always talking about that stuff too! It was the worst!
I hate dirty jokes! Screw locker room talk!
Arashi: Heh, I agree with you there. The children who will build the future from here on out might grow up never knowing that looong ago, there was once a world like that.
That makes me a little envious. But for now, both knights and magicians have no choice but to live on in this world, which will eventually turn into nothing but a fairy tale.
Tsukasa: Ahem, ahem. (clearing his throat) You all seem to think everything's fine and taken care of now...
But this isn't over yet. Until the curtains fall, let us give our very best as idols.
Ritsu: Yeah, I know. But we're the intruders here, so probably best not to meddle too much, yeah?
Arashi: Agreed. It's plain as day how this Next Door Judgment is going to turn out, anyway. ...You don't have any intention to win, do you, Leo-kun?
Leo: Yup! It's all set up for me to lose. At first I did panic and run off when you guys caught me... That was just a reflex, though.
I just thought I'd be made into a machine that only mass produces weapons on request, like I was in the past.
But there's no way you guys would push that on me, right?
When I calmed down and stopped to think about it, I realized you're the ones who're probably in the right here.
In the first place, I can't really even trust my own thoughts.
They got me in huge trouble in the past, after all.
I'd thought I was swaggering around in some fancy outfit, but I was actually naked—and to top it off, I was soaked in the blood of the people I'd trampled over.
I'm not letting that happen again, ever.
In this show's opening, I said I wanna go off and do whatever I want, but I already know that if I did, I'd definitely regret it.
Sure, there are probably a handful of folks out there who grit their teeth and push through the pain for the sake of justice or dreams.
Like Tenshi or Keito or Rei or that red-haired guy from Crazy:B—but I'm not thinking of anything that grand.
My dream's been the same since I was a little kid mimicking the idols on TV for my cute baby sister.
If I can just create music I like and make somebody smile with it, then that's all I need.
But everybody else wants so much more than that, right?
So much that they'd go to war, fight over money, and after all that strife, build a humongous building like ES.
And even then, they keep stretching out their hands, wanting more and more and more.
That's not really a bad thing, though; that's just how humans are. It's not about good and evil, or about right and wrong—not even about likes and dislikes.
That's simply how things are.
But I just feel like there's something lacking there, like the whole thing's broken somewhere.
'Cause a load of sad and painful stuff happened, y'know?
So... I'm good. I don't need my share. I'll give it to whoever wants it.
A long time ago, there was something that should've been obtainable, but a huge war blotted it out from view.
Guns and bombs never should've been invented. I don't care if they saved some people's lives.
I don't care if they've contributed to the development of mankind—if even one person is left crying because of it, then we're all going to hell together.
I'm sure Einstein and Nobel felt the same way.
That's why, after making a historic discovery, they spent the rest of their lives struggling to make up for it.
After unfairly stealing someone else's share, they handed out the things that other people desire, even if it meant slicing off their own flesh.
That's the fate of somebody who messed it all up and changed the world—the fate of a genius.
And that's what I'll do too.
Izumi: Are you stupid?
Leo: ...Yeah, I'm stupid. Don't you know that already?
Izumi: Yep. They say genius and stupidity are two sides of the same coin, and that's real apparent whenever I'm with you.
But that made some things click, at least—like why you let some idiot like GFK wring you dry, just like back in our Chess days.
GFK aside, there were also all those crappy songs he tried to use you to sell...
You couldn't refuse them; rather, you wanted to sell them, even if you had to use your name.
You helped out because you wanted people to hear them...
...Thinking that if those songs could make even a single person smile, then they shouldn't be lost, right?
Leo: ...Did you hear about all that from Mama?
Izumi: Uh-huh. He seems to think I'm your parent or something, even though I'm probably the one who hurt you the most.
Leo: Nah, you're the only one who believes that, Sena.
Izumi: But if I believe it, then it's obviously correct, right?
Who cares what other people think? The one who thinks about me the most in the world isn't Papa or Mama or even you—it's me.
I'm only interested in myself. Nothing else matters.
Leo: Well you've got it down pat, huh. That's why I like ya, Sena~ You're just pure and beautiful. ♪
Izumi: Yeah, thanks. But you know, ever since I entered Yumenosaki, met everyone, and started performing with Knights...
I mean, I'm twisted at my very core, so I didn't just suddenly wake up a philanthropist one day or something, but...
Somehow, I ended up thinking "Knights" is also "me". And I love myself.
If I didn't, I wouldn't have survived among all those dimwits who just dish out empty flattery.
Either way, I'm pretty serious when I say I love you all.
I'm sure that was obvious back in Repayment Fes—so I'll be honest, instead of trying to say something weird and mean.
I really wanted to say this at the very, very end to catch you off guard, but...
It's all up in the air now, so it'd be dumb trying to wait for the perfect timing anymore.
---
[1] For what it's worth, Arashi uses the same phrasing (愛の話; ai no hanashi) as in the final lines of Horror Night Halloween Epilogue 4. While the Japanese is the same, unfortunately I couldn't use the exact same phrasing based on how I translated it before. On a similar note, "making love" was originally エッチの話; ecchi no hanashi.
---
< Epilogue 4 || Masterlist || Epilogue 6 >
