Chapter 7: The Prince and the Rose
Yae: Um, Kudou-san, you used to be an actor too right?
Hana: Hmm? That's right. I used to be a Sirius member. What's with the sudden question?
Yae: Why did you stop acting?
Hana: Hmmm...
Yae: ...
Hana: In my case, it wasn't because I want to stop acting.
Yae: In your case...?
Hana: Well, put simply, it's because I turned 23.
Yae: 23...
Hana: It's a rule here at Sirius that you have to be under 23 years old.
Hana: When I turned 23, I had to decide if I wanted to move to another troupe, or work backstage at Sirius.
Hana: And so I decided to stay at Sirius. Well actually, I took a break to study and then came back.
Yae: Why did you do that...? If you were able to be part of Sirius, then surely you would be scouted for other troup-
Hana: Haha, spoken like a true Daistar. Why do you think I did?
Yae: Umm...
Hana: I chose to work backstage at Sirius because I love Sirius.
Yae: Because you love Sirius...
Hana: Of course, there was always the option to go to other troupes, but at the time, I was already working with HIiragi and others at Sirius.
Hana: Instead of going to another troupe, I wanted to work with the people here and makes them shine brighter than ever.
Hana: The scripts, the role, I had a interest in that stuff. And that outweighed my desire to be on stage.
Hana: I love everyone at Sirius, and I love the plays that Sirius puts on, so that's why I decided to become a director at Sirius.
Hana: So, was that the answer that you wanted to hear?
Yae: ...
Yae: Do you still wish to go on stage again?
Hana: There are days that I think it wouldn't be so bad.
Yae: ...!
Hana: But, I do enjoy my time now.
Hana: You know there's a lot of work that goes into the plays you guys perform, right?
Yae: B-but-
Hana: Yae.
Yae: Yes?
Hana: I'm sorry to say, but Hiiragi's the only person who knows what she's thinking.
Yae: ...
Hana: You're not the only one who wants her to return to the stage.
Yae: When I saw Hiiragi-san's play for the first, it really left an impact on me.
Yae: "Why is this performance so compelling?", I asked myself while all excited. The truth was, it was like I was in a dream.
Yae: Everyone in the audience was enamoured by her performance as the Prince. It was like everyone was on the never-ending journey with the Prince.
Yae: I want to be able to act like that. I want to be able to put on a performance that's that level of amazing.
Hana: That's a pretty common goal for an actor to have.
Hana: But if your goal is just to be able to perform like Hiiragi, isn't it enough to just follow the directions of her advice?
Yae: That's...
Yae: To be able to stand on stage with her, that's just a selfish desire of mine.
Yae: On stage together... No. I want to put on a performance that exceeds that level.
Hana: You really do look up to her, don't you.
Yae: I really love Hiiragi-san.
Hana: So is it no good if you put on an amazing performance without Hiiragi?
Hana: I mean, our actors here are pretty good.
Yae:...
Yae: That's true, there are a lot of good actors here at Sirius.
Yae: But...
Hana: I knew it.
Hana: Sorry for teasing you.
Hana: There's only one Hiiragi after all. Of course you want to put on the best performance with her.
Yae: That's right.
Hana: Well, in that case, I'm got my work cut out to try and convince her to do that.
Yae: Thank you very much. I'll do my best too.