Euthanasia - Epilogue 2
Jun. 3rd, 2021 11:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivalriesSeason: Autumn
---
[euthanasia Stage]
Ritsu: So it'll be okay. Knights won't be repeating the same tragedy as before, and all the stuff we've been doing since ES started up won't go to waste.
Our newbies are important to us, too, and they're also a huge asset. We don't have to throw all that away just to move forward.
And by reducing the burden on ourselves, we can focus on our own activities.
In that way, both Su~chan and Nacchan's teams can see their wishes come true.
If we didn't get all worked up and flip out at each other, and instead exchanged ideas normally...
I'm pretty sure we could've gotten to this conclusion without having to hold this enormous performance for it.
We could've found a solution that worked for everyone and respected everyone's opinions.
Looks like none of you could figure it out, though, so as much as it's a pain, I've gone and shown you the right path. Be grateful for the rest of your lives—you owe it to me.
In the future, you would do well to avoid forcing my hand like this. [1]
Izumi: Who do you even think you are, Kuma-kun?
Ritsu: Nobody, really~ I'm just me.
I'm Ritsu Sakuma-kun, and I love love looove everybody! Nice to meetcha~♪
♪~♪~♪
Tsukasa: Erm... I'm afraid I can't keep up with all these sudden developments. In summary, what is happening?
I apologize, it appears that I'm just as slow to understand as Leo-san is!
Leo: Yes! Leo... Suo~... Friends...!
Izumi: Could you quit it with that broken speech already? Aghhh, it doesn't make any sense! The longer we live together, the deeper the mystery gets!
Arashi: Fufufu. That's why mingling with other people is so much fun, right? ♪
I think I'm starting to get what's going on here. Ritsu-chan's plan was probably something like this—
He claimed he was going to be a neutral party as the judge, but he was actually plotting to take the win for himself.
Whether it's cunning or determined or some kind of tactical move, well, it all sounds like something Ritsu-chan would do.
The rest of us were just getting lost in the darkness remembering our past trauma. All we could do was start freaking out, but...
Ritsu-chan was the only one who could see the correct path.
On this path, we won't have to throw anything away, just as Tsukasa-chan envisioned...
And we can also stand out and drink in the love onstage, just like you and I had hoped.
We can see these sights in front of us, right here, right now, on the stage of euthanasia.
Ritsu: Yep, as I was listening to everybody talk at the meeting, I thought both sides were right.
Both sides made sense to me, so I thought it'd be a shame if we had to choose one or the other.
So, we don't have to get rid of either.
Like Secchan said, we should use what resources we have to the fullest. If we're smart about it and get Ecchan and the others involved—
We can reach our ideal form... No, we can stay as we are, because we're already ideal.
Yet despite that, everyone's too stubborn to compromise, so I thought maybe it'd be good to set up this duel to "make" you guys understand.
If we're lost on how to proceed, we fight it out and go down the road the victor shows us—I figured that might be the most Knights-worthy approach.
But we couldn't do it the traditional way. If we had to sacrifice someone for it, we'd all be sad, especially Nacchan.
Arashi: Yeah, and the fans would too, of course.
Ritsu: That's why we have this euthanasia—a peaceful death. The losing party will accept their defeat and pass on to find happiness in the next life.
They'll be able to look forward with no lingering regrets and walk into a new world with healthy smiles on their faces.
The Knights that always raised hell whenever we fought is dead. I mean, I killed it.
But thankfully, I'm a vampire, so I know a way to die without dying...
I can bring the dead back to life and make them even more powerful than before.
From now on, Knights will be stronger than ever. We won't lose to anyone. ♪
We're always battling for victory. Even in euthanasia, Knights will end up the winners.
I invited a misunderstanding on purpose—
You all thought euthanasia was just a remix of the Judgment format, so you split into teams as usual.
You thought you were the only ones performing today. That would be the case in a Judgment, yeah—I'm sure nobody even had an inkling that it would be different this time around.
Nacchan and Secchan, Su~chan and Tsukipi~... With me added as a helper on both sides, that makes three members per team.
But see, the team I put together to sing onstage right now—my beloved Knights—has more members than can even compare.
War is fought with numbers, and these numbers are skilled, to boot.
We've got our genius composer Tsukipi~, who can create a ton of amazing songs in a way that no one else can imitate.
Leo: Oh? Wow, thanks! Makes me feel kinda shy when you say nice things about me! Wahaha! ♪
Ritsu: There's also Secchan and Nacchan, who can adapt flexibly to Tsukipi~'s music and dance with more beauty than anyone.
Izumi: I still win in the beauty department, though.
Arashi: Oh? But Izumi-chan, you might be the only person in the world who thinks so, you know?
Ritsu: We have Su~chan, who leads all of us and keeps on growing at a ferocious rate.
Tsukasa: ...♪
Ritsu: And we've also got me, the greatest tactician ever, who watches over you all and provides you with the perfect strategies...!
Tsukasa: Th-That's quite the impressive self-evaluation!
Arashi: Fufu, at least this time, we have absolutely no reason to stop him from singing his own praises, right?
Ritsu: Also. Standing behind the five of us are our passionate newbies, who are happy to follow along with us...
And all the staff members like the Producer who work alongside us, assisting us along the way.
Our friends are here to support us... our family too. Of course, we've got all our fans cheering us on.
Do you really think some ramshackle team that was slapped together on the very same day would win against Knights as we are now?
The sun would sooner shatter to pieces, you know?
~...♪
---
[1] Ritsu's speech style resembles Rei's here, though he uses 俺様 (oresama) in this line as well, which is notably used by characters like Koga and... yes, past Rei.
---
< Epilogue 1 || Masterlist
---
[euthanasia Stage]
Ritsu: So it'll be okay. Knights won't be repeating the same tragedy as before, and all the stuff we've been doing since ES started up won't go to waste.
Our newbies are important to us, too, and they're also a huge asset. We don't have to throw all that away just to move forward.
And by reducing the burden on ourselves, we can focus on our own activities.
In that way, both Su~chan and Nacchan's teams can see their wishes come true.
If we didn't get all worked up and flip out at each other, and instead exchanged ideas normally...
I'm pretty sure we could've gotten to this conclusion without having to hold this enormous performance for it.
We could've found a solution that worked for everyone and respected everyone's opinions.
Looks like none of you could figure it out, though, so as much as it's a pain, I've gone and shown you the right path. Be grateful for the rest of your lives—you owe it to me.
In the future, you would do well to avoid forcing my hand like this. [1]
Izumi: Who do you even think you are, Kuma-kun?
Ritsu: Nobody, really~ I'm just me.
I'm Ritsu Sakuma-kun, and I love love looove everybody! Nice to meetcha~♪
♪~♪~♪
Tsukasa: Erm... I'm afraid I can't keep up with all these sudden developments. In summary, what is happening?
I apologize, it appears that I'm just as slow to understand as Leo-san is!
Leo: Yes! Leo... Suo~... Friends...!
Izumi: Could you quit it with that broken speech already? Aghhh, it doesn't make any sense! The longer we live together, the deeper the mystery gets!
Arashi: Fufufu. That's why mingling with other people is so much fun, right? ♪
I think I'm starting to get what's going on here. Ritsu-chan's plan was probably something like this—
He claimed he was going to be a neutral party as the judge, but he was actually plotting to take the win for himself.
Whether it's cunning or determined or some kind of tactical move, well, it all sounds like something Ritsu-chan would do.
The rest of us were just getting lost in the darkness remembering our past trauma. All we could do was start freaking out, but...
Ritsu-chan was the only one who could see the correct path.
On this path, we won't have to throw anything away, just as Tsukasa-chan envisioned...
And we can also stand out and drink in the love onstage, just like you and I had hoped.
We can see these sights in front of us, right here, right now, on the stage of euthanasia.
Ritsu: Yep, as I was listening to everybody talk at the meeting, I thought both sides were right.
Both sides made sense to me, so I thought it'd be a shame if we had to choose one or the other.
So, we don't have to get rid of either.
Like Secchan said, we should use what resources we have to the fullest. If we're smart about it and get Ecchan and the others involved—
We can reach our ideal form... No, we can stay as we are, because we're already ideal.
Yet despite that, everyone's too stubborn to compromise, so I thought maybe it'd be good to set up this duel to "make" you guys understand.
If we're lost on how to proceed, we fight it out and go down the road the victor shows us—I figured that might be the most Knights-worthy approach.
But we couldn't do it the traditional way. If we had to sacrifice someone for it, we'd all be sad, especially Nacchan.
Arashi: Yeah, and the fans would too, of course.
Ritsu: That's why we have this euthanasia—a peaceful death. The losing party will accept their defeat and pass on to find happiness in the next life.
They'll be able to look forward with no lingering regrets and walk into a new world with healthy smiles on their faces.
The Knights that always raised hell whenever we fought is dead. I mean, I killed it.
But thankfully, I'm a vampire, so I know a way to die without dying...
I can bring the dead back to life and make them even more powerful than before.
From now on, Knights will be stronger than ever. We won't lose to anyone. ♪
We're always battling for victory. Even in euthanasia, Knights will end up the winners.
I invited a misunderstanding on purpose—
You all thought euthanasia was just a remix of the Judgment format, so you split into teams as usual.
You thought you were the only ones performing today. That would be the case in a Judgment, yeah—I'm sure nobody even had an inkling that it would be different this time around.
Nacchan and Secchan, Su~chan and Tsukipi~... With me added as a helper on both sides, that makes three members per team.
But see, the team I put together to sing onstage right now—my beloved Knights—has more members than can even compare.
War is fought with numbers, and these numbers are skilled, to boot.
We've got our genius composer Tsukipi~, who can create a ton of amazing songs in a way that no one else can imitate.
Leo: Oh? Wow, thanks! Makes me feel kinda shy when you say nice things about me! Wahaha! ♪
Ritsu: There's also Secchan and Nacchan, who can adapt flexibly to Tsukipi~'s music and dance with more beauty than anyone.
Izumi: I still win in the beauty department, though.
Arashi: Oh? But Izumi-chan, you might be the only person in the world who thinks so, you know?
Ritsu: We have Su~chan, who leads all of us and keeps on growing at a ferocious rate.
Tsukasa: ...♪
Ritsu: And we've also got me, the greatest tactician ever, who watches over you all and provides you with the perfect strategies...!
Tsukasa: Th-That's quite the impressive self-evaluation!
Arashi: Fufu, at least this time, we have absolutely no reason to stop him from singing his own praises, right?
Ritsu: Also. Standing behind the five of us are our passionate newbies, who are happy to follow along with us...
And all the staff members like the Producer who work alongside us, assisting us along the way.
Our friends are here to support us... our family too. Of course, we've got all our fans cheering us on.
Do you really think some ramshackle team that was slapped together on the very same day would win against Knights as we are now?
The sun would sooner shatter to pieces, you know?
~...♪
---
[1] Ritsu's speech style resembles Rei's here, though he uses 俺様 (oresama) in this line as well, which is notably used by characters like Koga and... yes, past Rei.
---
< Epilogue 1 || Masterlist
