rubestie

Season: Winter

Writer: Haruka Kanata

Characters: Nagisa, Adonis, Anzu

<A few days later. The meeting day for the talkshow>

nagisa

Nagisa: …Oh. Good morning, Anzu-san. I look forward to working with you today.

…You're coming along to the talkshow meeting today, are you not, Anzu-san?

…Yes. I’m happy I remembered correctly. I was afraid I might've misunderstood something.

…Normally Ibara would be on top of every little detail for me, but for this job I’m on my own, you see.

…That reminds me, the person I will be talking with on the show ended up being Adonis-kun, didn’t it?

…I have talked to him before at Starmony Dorm, but we haven’t had many chances to really relax and talk until now.

…So I’m happy to have this opportunity to properly talk with him.

…Oops, this isn’t the time to stand around leisurely chatting. I wouldn’t want to be late for the meeting. Let’s hurry up a little, Anzu-san.

Nagisa: …Good morning, Adonis-kun. It seems I’ve kept you waiting, I apologize.

nagisa+adonis

Adonis: …

Nagisa: …Adonis-kun? Is there something wrong?

…There's no reaction even when Anzu-san is the one calling out to him. It seems like he’s been staring at something for a while now.

…Is this the proposal we were given in advance for the program?

Adonis: …N? You’re already here, Anzu and Ran-senpai? I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you until now.

Nagisa: …No, don’t worry about it. You must’ve been very focused for you to not even notice that we came in here.

Adonis: I was just nervous. So I haven’t actually managed to read much yet…

Nagisa: (...Now that I think about it, he is gripping the paper with enough force to wrinkle the edges.)

(...It seems like Adonis-kun is much more nervous than I thought.)

Adonis: I’m sorry, Anzu, Ran-senpai. I might end up causing trouble for the two of you.

Nagisa: …What makes you say that?

Adonis: I’m not very good at talking. So I’m not confident that I’ll be able to keep up in conversation with you.

I’ve made appearances on radio programs with UNDEAD before, but the only reason I was able to perform well back then was because Hakaze-senpai and Ogami were there to support me.

Which is why I’m afraid I’ll end up causing trouble for Ran-senpai this time around.

Nagisa: …I see. I understand why you apologized now.

…However, if you’re insecure about talking, why did you end up accepting this job?

Adonis: …Because I wanted to grow more as an idol.

Being an idol isn’t just about singing and dancing. I want to be able to do even more for my fans’ sakes.

However, those are merely my personal circumstances. It doesn’t matter for the people who I end up causing trouble for.

Which is why I wanted to apologize to Ran-senpai and Anzu in advance…

Nagisa: …I understand how you feel, Adonis-kun.

…You’re both kind and honest. I think that’s amazing.

…To tell you the truth, I’m in the same situation as you.

Adonis: The same as me? What do you mean?

Nagisa: …It was easier for me when I acted according to Ibara’s instructions, but the current policy for the agency is for me to act as my true self.

…But I still don’t know how to properly show that part of myself.

…Not knowing the correct way to behave is somewhat similar to not being good at talking, I think.

Adonis: I see. So Ran-senpai has been worrying about this just like I have.

Nagisa: …So, let’s both work hard to grow through this recording.

…It is precisely because we are imperfect that we can find enjoyment in growing.

Adonis: That’s true. I feel better after hearing that. Thank you, Ran-senpai.

Nagisa: …It seems as if Adonis-kun feels less nervous now, I’m glad. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting as well, Anzu-san.

…Fufu. I’m glad you didn’t mind. Thank you.

…It’s already past starting time, so let’s get the meeting started right away.

<A few minutes later.>

Adonis: -I see. So to sum things up, this episode will have us giving out advice to viewers who’ve sent in problems they're worried about.

The program staff have already prepared a form for the viewers to send in any problems they’d like me and Ran-senpai to discuss.

The specific questions included in the form are… I see. We can’t see yet.

“The two of you can go over the questions and pick which you want to talk about on the show at a later time”, is it? Understood.

Nagisa: …The difficult thing is that it won’t be enough if we simply listen to the listener’s worries and give out advice.

Both myself and Adonis-kun are revered as “mature” by the public, so the program staff wants to take advantage of that reputation for this show.

So they want us to act like calm adults, discuss topics related to the viewers’ problems, and offer our advice and solutions.

Adonis: …Even just talking sounded hard enough, I wonder if I’ll be able to do all that.

Nagisa: …The parts I added are merely requests for us from the staff. I think they’ll forgive us if we decide it’s too difficult and we can’t go through with it.

…Those requests are more like suggestions for decorations to make the program more exciting. The most important thing for us should be the main contents of the proposal.

Adonis: The main contents. Meaning, giving out advice, huh…

Even though the two of us already have our own problems in that we’re bad at talking, I wonder if we’ll be able to do something like giving out advice to others.

Nagisa: …You’re right. If I was tasked with doing something like that on the spot, I doubt that I could do it successfully either.

…I suppose the two of us will have to hold a rehearsal together before the show, don’t you think?

Adonis: A rehearsal? Are you saying we should practice beforehand?

Nagisa: …Yes. We won’t know what problems could arise unless we try it out first, after all.

nagisa+adonis