Operetta - Birthday 7

[bakemonoremy]

Location: Operetta Stage

- Almost an hour later, the curtain of “Operetta” is raised -

Mao & Koga: “♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”

Mao: “Everyone! Welcome to the opera house...☆”

Koga: “We’ll give you the warmest of welcomes! Prepare yourselves, ‘cause we’re gonna entertain you so hard you’ll feel the tingle all the way to your bones! Gyahahahaha ♪”

Tori: “Hey now! What're you two doing, you’re not supposed to let the guests in yet!”

“Quit doing whatever you like! I’ll make sure our “masters” scold you for this later!”

Yuzuru: “Indeed, how troublesome you are! We are still in the middle of our cleaning duties, and dinner is yet to be prepared!”

Arashi: “Also! I’m sorry, but as you can see, we’re in the middle of a giant debacle here!”

“The beloved masters of this opera house, brothers who have dwelled here for hundreds of years, are having one of their usual big disputes!”

Kaoru: “My goodness. How shameful it is for our dear guests to see a quarrel inside this household!”

“As an apology, I grant all of you the right to dance with me during the party tonight~♪”

Koga: “Oi, Bastard, you’re the only one who’d benefit from somethin’ like that! No headstarts allowed, ya hear?”

Mao: “Hey now, don’t you start fighting too~”

“Sheesh… It’s just one problem after the other today, why don’t you put yourself in my shoes for being the poor underling who has to wipe your asses for you ♪”

Ritsu: “~...♪”

Rei: “♪ ! ♪ ! ♪ ♪ ♪ !”

Koga: “Hey, just how long are you plannin’ to keep up that fight, huh, “masters”!?”

“We have guests! If you don’t greet ‘em and entertain’ em well, you’ll bring shame upon your bloodline of the “Phantom of the Opera”, ya hear?”

Mao: “Indeed! These two are the descendants of that famous Phantom! Generation after generation, their family has lived on within the walls of this opera house!”

“Like their ancestors before them, they bestow words of advice upon people they take an interest in!”

Koga: “Help, guidance, illumination! But despite that, for some reason these brothers just can’t get along!”

“Their viewpoints never align, and so they only quarrel day in and day out, leavin' us servants the trouble of keepin’ them at bay!”

Mao: “Even now, they’re spending all their time arguing about how to produce the primadonna of the opera house!”

Ritsu: “♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”

Mao: “See! The younger brother insists on raising her to become more adorable--”

Rei: “~ ♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪ ♪ ♪”

Koga: “Aah dammit! The older brother objects, and demands that she be raised to be more beautiful and stylish!”

Mao: “Thanks to that, the primadonna is at a loss! The stage is in a state of disorder, and the romantic, elegant, noble ambience of the opera house is ruined!”

Koga: “Aah, just what will happen from here on out? Will the fights between these idiotic brothers be the end of the decades of history for this opera house!?”

Mao: “I won’t let that happen! I’m sure we’ll be able to get those two to reconcile!”

Koga: “Go ahead, no matter what you need, just order us around and we’ll get it for you!”

Mao & Koga: “Masters! Brothers who ought to love one another! What is it that you desire…?”

“♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”

Ritsu: (Alright, it’s going well so far I guess.)

(Nacchan and the others who all came here as helpers, or rather, the Yumenosaki performance squad, are almost done with their lines.)

(Our preparatory period was way too short after all, so even if we’d handed them a drawn-out genuine opera script, there’s no way they could’ve remembered all of it.)

(From hereon out, the student council members who're in charge of the project, and us brothers who'll become the focus of the opera, are gonna exchange appropriate dialogue as we proceed…)

(And while borrowing the assistance of the opera house’s theater troupe, we’ll mostly put an emphasis on our singing and dancing.)

(After explaining the premise, we’ll pretty much leave the rest of the story to the audience’s imagination.)

(It truly is an opera… A lot of people in the audience this time are people from overseas, so they probably wouldn't understand us if we kept explaining everything in Japanese.)

(The plot of the opera is basically one big metaphor for our actual situation, and that’s the one thing that doesn’t sit well with me.)

(But it’s fine… Right now, the two of us are receiving attention from people all around the world.)

(We’ll line up all the things people have a keen interest in and put them on display. We’ll show them what they want to see, because we’re idols. Me, Anija… And everyone else.)

(Aren’t you overjoyed, everyone? Aren’t you glad, haven’t you fallen in love with us?)

(And now, we’ll enchant you with our song and dance…)

(Even the people who have come here to see me just because I’m “Sakuma Rei’s little brother”... I’ll turn them into fans of “me as an idol”.)

(Prepare yourselves! Come on now, look at me more, love me more... ♪)

“♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”

Rei: “~.... ♪”

(Fufu. The innocent smile on your face reminds me of our childhood, my dear Ritsu.)

(Now that I think of it, even during the time I was enrolled at Yumenosaki, the chances for us to stand together on stage like this were unexpectedly numerous…)

(But you always looked so reluctant… No matter how much I spurred you on, you wouldn’t even look my way and acted like you were ignoring me the whole time.)

(However, this time is different, you’re right in front of me… And squaring off against me, your brother.)

(What is it that changed between the times before and now? What are you thinking about right now?)

(Please tell me, dear brother, using these treasures that you polished to perfection; your singing, your dancing, and your smile.)

“~.... ♪”

Ritsu: “♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”

Rei: (Aah, my dear brother. You’ve grown since then, and your singing and dancing has improved. And yet… Although at this late hour, I finally realize you’ve always had this expression on your face.)

(Maybe it was actually me who was turning a blind eye all this time?)

Ritsu: ...Heeey, can you focus a little? Why do you keep staring at me?

Look at the audience instead. Can't you lower my level of priority a little bit, at least while we’re on stage?

‘Cause if you can’t, that’d make you a failure as an idol, and I’ll kick you right off the stage. 

Rei: You’re right. To think I’d still have things to learn from you… Maybe I am more ignorant than I ever thought.

My dear brother. Although I’m still pained after receiving my first warning from you a moment ago, will you allow me to ask you one thing?

Because I didn’t want to take up more time before the curtain was raised earlier I didn’t get to ask, but…

...Are you okay with this?

Ritsu: Yeah. There’s no need for you to even ask me that, the fact that I’m standing here should be answer enough for you.

I’m an idol, so stringing words together isn’t for me… I express my feelings using my whole body, like this.

Have you become such a feeble old man that you can’t even see me when I’m standing right in front of you anymore, Anija?

Rei: I haven’t. I can see… The way you’re standing before me, sparkling so brightly you’re dazzling.

Ritsu: Right. Now instead of me, have a look at the audience for once.

Rei: …?

Ritsu: Look, a whole lot of our family members have come to sit in the audience.

Since “Operetta” contains our family ritual, just like “Resurrection Sunday” did, it’s only natural, I guess.

Aside from that, there’s a whole crowd of people who came all the way from overseas just because they were interested in us brothers...

And of course, there’s a lot of people who are just fans of all of us as idols, too.

All together they’re a crowd so large they won’t even fit into the opera house.

What do you think? You can’t even tell them apart easily because they’re all smiling the same way, right?

Transcending nationality and everything else, they’re all equals as they enjoy our performance as idols!

Isn’t it amazing how idols can do something “like this”?