Short Program 21

Short Program, Volume 2, Chapter 21 (pp. 175~204)


<175>
Spring Call

=The cherry blossoms bloom in March—

ACHOO

=But it's spring in name only...

=I think it's nice.


<176&177>
Spring Call


<178>
=—Very nice.

=Really?

=Yeah.

=His phone rings twice,
=In the darkened theater—//Then the curtain falls.

=A phone call at midnight.//One ring means "No." Two rings mean "Yes."//That's her answer.
=—Right, but...

=Do you think I should make it a more obvious happy ending?


<179>
=Don't worry, everyone will get it.
=There you are, Nao-chan.//I've been looking everywhere for you.

=Akahori,//I finished my script. Can you take a look?

=Guess I didn't tell you.

=Huh?
=I'm writing our next script. As the club head.//The other members asked me to.

=Look, I did the best I could fixing up the last one,//But it still ended up kinda dull.

=From a director's standpoint,//Your stories just don't have enough excitement.


<180>
=Our next performance is gonna be at the freshmen welcome session in April, so we wanna make it flashy.//As the club head, I have a lot of work head of me,//But all the other members insisted.

=Well,//That's the deal.
TOSS

=—Anyways,//Nao-chan...

=Oh yeah, Shinjo,//If you're free, can you go help out the underclassmen get the stage ready?
=They're in the art room.

=Oh,//Alright.

[x2]THACK THOCK


<181>
THACK THOCK

[sign]Art Room

=Umm,//Excuse us.

=Sorry, but would you mind getting us some cold drinks?//Two of 'em.

=Sure thing.//Do you care what kind?
=N-//Not really...

=Yeah—!//I win!

=That'll be 500 yen.
=Damn it!

=Man, that is unreal.
=I told you, he's a real nice guy.

=He's beyond nice.
=Who actually goes out and buys drinks for underclassmen!?


<182>
=I'm ba—ck.

=You're home, Kohei?//Dinner's ready.
[sign]Shinjo

=I'm gonna go break a sweat at uncle's place first.

=You're really sticking to it,//Aren't you.
=Later—


<183>
=Okay, see you tomorrow.
=Bye.

GRAB

=AHHHH—!


<184>
=Hey, stop!
DASH

WHACK

=Uck!

=You alright, Nao-chan?

=Akahori-kun!


<185>
GLUCK

=Yo!//What's up, pal.

=Hitting me wasn't part of the deal.


<186>
=Heh-heh, my bad.//Just went with the flow, you know.

=You sure it's gonna work?

=At the very least, it'll make it easier for me to ask her out on a date.//She'll feel guilty about turning me down after I saved her.
=Hee-hee.
=You sure it's that simple?

=Drama's always best when you keep it simple.
TOSS

=The script for our next performance.//Take a good look, you might learn something.

=I got the entire thing done yesterday.//Yeah, I'm just overflowing with talent these days.//Hah-hah-hah!
[title]"Grab My Neck Tightly!"//(Working title)//Written by Tomio Akahori


<187>
=The heroine is assaulted by evil karate practitioners,//So the genius martial artist trains for a week under the guidance of the heroine's old man, and beats up the bad guys.
=10 days later, he becomes the national karate champion, which gets him 20 million yen and a luxury sedan.//He then goes driving around Shounan with the heroine—

=An action drama with real kick, I'd say!
=Hah-hah-hah!
=It's sure is simple.

=The heroine will be Nao Tanimura, of course.//And as the club head, I will obviously be playing the hero.

=Don't worry, I'll remember to give you a part.//You played a pretty good pervert today—!
=Hah-hah-hah!

=Just to be sure,//You don't like Tanimura or anything, do you?
=Nope.


<188>
[x2]WOOF

=You're home, Kohei?//Dinner's ready.
[sign]Shinjo

=After I go break a sweat at uncle's place.

=You're really sticking to it, aren't you.
=Later—


<189>
=Sakamoto, those tiles...?
=Oh,//Not to worry. I'll make them easier to break.

=Well,//I could break them anyways...

=Hey,//Nao-chan.

=There's a couple spots I want to go over with you later.//At the coffee shop, just the two of us.
=Okay.


<190>
=Oh,//You're not going to uncle's place today, Kohei?
=Yeah,//He's getting new floorboards so he's closed for 3 days.

=It was getting pretty run-down wasn't it,//That old—
DING DO—NG

=Ye—s?//Oh, it's the lady from next door.

[x2]TREMBLE


<191>
=It's idiotic but it's kind of funny,//Don't you think?
=Huh?

=I guess Shinjo-kun's story with the two rings at the end was a bit too subtle after all.

=I guess so.

=I always thought Akahori-kun was just brash and overconfident,//But maybe he really is talented.

=...Yeah.

=Shinjo,//C'mere a sec.


<192>
=Hey, Nao.//Don't you think this story is really stupid!?

=They should've let Shinjo-kun write it.//That last play would've been really good if Akahori-kun hadn't made those silly edits.
[bubble]YEAH

=It's not Akahori-kun's fault.

=He shouldn't have let him edit it.

=He always does whatever Akahori-kun says...

=Huh?//What's that?
=Nothing—


<193>
=Alright, listen up.//Before tomorrow's run-through, I'm gonna ask you for your input as a scriptwriter.
=So you tell everyone you think there should be a love scene between me and Nao.//Make it real convincing.

=A love scene?

=I was planning on including one from the start.//But it would look bad if I wrote it on my own, right?
=That's why I need someone else to suggest it.

=The lights will go down right before the kiss—//But of course I'm not gonna stop there.

=Nao wouldn't dare to run off during a performance.
=It's the perfect plan!

=I'm counting on you, pal!


<194>
=What's up?//You're not gonna tell me you have a crush on Nao, are you?
=It's not that...//My hand won't stop shaking.

=Are you sick?
=Oh,//It stopped.

=Where are you going, Kouhei?//Uncle's place is under construction, right?
=Oh,//Right.

AWOOO—


<195>
=Oh, Shinjo-san—//Do you know where the club head is?
=Buzz off.

=Huh?

=Huh?

=What?
=Oh,//N-Nothing...

=—So anyways,//We're going to be doing our run-through of the play today.


<196>
=You look a little pale, Shinjo-kun...

=Huh?
=Oh,//Really?

=I'm fine...

WHIRR..

=—But before that,//I'd like to get everyone's input on the script.

=Don't hold back, feel free to mention anything you've noticed.

=Well—The whole story's a little stupid, and—
THUD
=How about you, Shinjo?


<197>
=As the club scriptwriter,//Is there any part that you think could use some improvement?

=Hmm?
[x2]HUFF

=Oh,//Wait a sec.

=H-Hey, Where you going!?//I'm asking you for your input!
=I'll be right back.

=I'm just gonna go break a little sweat.
=You've got an idea, right!?//Like adding a certain scene.//Hmm!?


<198>
=Hey, wait up!//I told you not to hold back, alright!?

=I just wanna hear your honest thoughts.

=You're right.
=Huh?

=Just like you said,//I've had a crush on Tanimura,
=Ever since I first met her.

=Huh?


<199>
=Got a problem with that?
=Wh-//What are you talking about...?

=I'm asking you about the script, and—
=Hah-hah-hah!

=Fuck it!//Forget about this thing!
BRIP

=You can't fix something that's this bad!
CRACK
=Ah.

=Beating up the bad guys after a week?//National champion in 10 days?

=Yeah right!//What do you think karate is!?


<200>
GRACK

=20 million yen!?//A luxury sedan!?
CRACK
=This isn't a freaking golf tournament, alright!?

THUCK
[x2]CRASH

PHEW—

=H-//Huh?


<201>
=G-Get outta here!//You're fired!

HO—NK

=Dammit, he broke all the rigged tiles!
CLINK..

=Actually, they weren't rigged yet...

=Oh yeah!//I've got an idea!//How about we add a love scene at the end—!?
=Hey,//I think that sounds like a great idea!

=Right?//Don't you guys agree!?

[x2]=Right?


<202>
[bubble]CLANK//CLONK
[sign]Ogami Karate Dojo

=Yo, Kohei—//You can come practice tomorrow, alright—!?
[bubble]CLANK//CLONK
[sign]Karate Dojo

=You used to be so quick-tempered when you were little.//Uncle really changed you, didn't he?

=Guess I was trying too hard to suppress my true feelings...


<203>
[sign]Shinjo

=Uck.

TING..

=Uck.

=Uck?


<204>
=The cherry blossoms bloom in March—

Hirose High School Drama Club
Freshmen Welcome Session Performance
"Spring Call"

Written and Directed by: Kohei Shinjo
Starring: Nao Tanimura
Daisuke Mikami
Yosuke Shirai
Yuta Arito

Tomio Akahori (Passerby)
etc.

=...Spring.

=Hey, listen.//Let's add a love scene.//Between the heroine and the passerby.
=That sounds like a great idea,//Right?
=Right?

Spring Call (END)