Chapter 2

Long time no see, Asahi-san! How have you been?

What's up! I’ve been feeling great every single day!

I’ve been buzzing with excitement all day. I heard you were all coming to practice.

Oh, I see…

Ehehe, let's do our best this time too~♪

Absolutely! Let’s all do our best!

People are going wild over “Two shows at THE CENTER THEATRE?!” so let’s give them a performance they won’t forget!

Yes, sir!!

We’ll have to make sure our performance keeps the energy high so we can hand things off to your troupe in style.

Yeah. We’re performing the first week, then Asahi-san’s team takes over for the second, so…..

If our show falls flat, the audience’s excitement for yours will drop too.

Nonsense! Not on my watch!

After all, we’re at our peak right now, too!

Hehe, that’s the spirit!

Oh, and if it’s alright… mind if I watch your rehearsal a bit today?

Eh?

It’s been a while since the contest, right? I was curious to see how far everyone’s come.

Ah, I see! In that case, please watch to your heart’s content!

Then, perhaps you could take that seat over there…

Nah, it’s fine! I’ll just sit quietly in the corner so don’t mind me, just do your thing as usual.

I see… understood.

Alright, everyone, shall we resume? Ready?

Yeah!

Bring it on!

“...Huff, huff... We managed to escape the castle, but…”

.......Tsukasa, can I stop you for a sec?

Hm? What is it?

Just now, after you slumped your shoulders for the ad-lib, you dropped to one knee, right?

Yeah. I figured it’d show better that he’s been running for his life up to this point.

That part’s fine, but... maybe don’t kneel down?

Bless still thinks their pursuers are close behind, right? He wouldn’t go down that easily.

Hm…! You’ve got a point there…....

But this is also the first moment the audience can finally take a breather, I wanted to make it stand out by exaggerating it!

But the line is “We managed to,” not “We're safe now.” Bless' tension is still there and you should show that!

“Okay, our goal is the cursed flower on top of the mountain! Everyone, let’s gooo!”

“Yeah!”

…Ah.

Hm? What is it, Nene?

Oh, um… I just thought of something.

What if we added a dance here?

Wh...?! You’re telling me we’re adding a whole new dance this late!?

Yeah. After this, we cut to the scene where everyone’s looking up at the mountain in awe, remember?

I was thinking it could flow better if we tied those parts together.

Oh, I get it! So we start with all of us being all hyped up like “Let’s gooo~♪” and dancing, but then at the end we'd be like “Whoa, it’s huge~!” right!?

Exactly! That’s what I meant!

…..You have a point. Considering what follows, adding a comedic beat here would help the pacing and draw the audience in more.

I’d like to try that out. What do you all think?

Seriously, always pulling last-minute surprises. My heart can’t take this!

But, but, it’s gonna be way more fun now! You think so too, right, Tsukasa-kun?

Indeed!! Then let us devise the choreography at once!!

From a stamina perspective, Bless should still have plenty left here. So maybe he could carry Heart’s bag for her and that’d make it more believable when everyone’s totally exhausted by the end.

Oh, that’s brilliant! Then around here—

(…...Wow. Everyone’s so full of energy.)

(Especially Nene-chan. She’s amazing this time. Her acting’s got real intensity, and she’s keeping everyone's energy high with her ideas.)

(But—it’s not just her.)

(All of WonderShow are giving it their all. They're clashing, debating, and pushing to make things even better. You can just feel it.)

(ArcLand’s got that fire too..… but—)

And from now on, I'll keep running forward with everything I have, alongside my friends.

.........

Alright! Let’s take a break around here!

Guess I’ll head back too. Thanks for letting me sit in!

Ah… I'm really sorry. You came all this way and we barely talked.

Ahaha, don't sweat it! You all should come hang out on our side sometime.

Of course. Thank you for the invite.

See you later, Asahi-san~!

We're sorry, Sakaki-san. You came all this way but.… He should be back soon though.

Ah, don’t mind me. I just dropped by to take a quick look. Pretend I’m not even here.

Ah, okay… then we’ll take you up on that.

Yaaawn…..

(I got called in for a meeting, so I figured I’d drop by on the way to check on Asahi Genbu..… didn’t expect him to be out.)

(“He should be back soon,” they said… Wonder how long soon really is.)

I’m back.

(Oh? Finally—)

(Hmm…?)

Oh! Hey, Asahi, Sakaki-san’s here to see you!

Huh? Oh—sorry for keeping you waiting.

Oh, it’s nothing urgent. I just came to check in.

Huh?

With the performance so close, I thought I’d check in on you guys. That being said, I'd love to observe your rehearsal.

Oh.... of course, go right ahead. Please feel free to watch as long as you like.

Gooot it.

Hey, Asahi, mind if I run something by you?

Hm? What’s up?

We were going over it, and the middle part still feels kinda disjointed. It’s not as exciting as we’d hoped.

Even though it’s supposed to be the animals having a serious argument, it still feels a bit too scripted, y’know?

I was wondering how you’d play it, Asahi-kun. Mind giving us some ideas?

Oh, that scene... Maybe it’d work better if we changed up the rhythm a bit.

Right now, you’ve got the lines overlapping to make it sound more like a real argument, right? But—

But as you repeat it, the rhythm gets too consistent and that’s why it comes off so predictable.

Yeah, that makes sense…!

Huh, I never thought about that… but if you think so, Asahi-kun, that’s gotta be it.

Right! Let’s give it a shot right now!