taishou romance - a flower story i

[faeil]

[Taishou Romance] A Flower Story
Chapter 1
written by Akira
>>orchard

Kotori: Chew, chew ♪

Mmph~ these grapes taste very…! Umm… tart! Yeah, they’re really bitter!

Tsubasa: Three points.

Kotori: That’s a lil’ harsh, isn’t it?! I tried my best!

Tsubasa: Because it’s you, and because you tried your best, I gave you a bonus of 3 points. Otherwise, I’d have given you a zero, you know~ I got literally nothing out of that besides "they’re sour."

I mean, “sour” isn’t really a compliment. At least add something else, like "this sourness is so addicting!” or something?

You have to make comments that’ll make the viewer’s mouths water. And if you’re going to say things that’ll give it a bad image, really play it up, okay? Like some lovable foul-mouthed character, right?

Kotori: Uuhh… But this ‘s m’first time reviewin’ food, after all~ …Tsubasa-shan, can ya gimme an example?

Tsubasa: Hmm~... Honestly, you can’t just imitate me. Even if I did try to model it for you, all you’d end up being able to do is make “Tsubasa-like comments”, you know?

We’re getting to do this as a duo, after all, so it’d be better if our comments were different from each other’s. I can work with bad-mouthing or back-handed compliments, so you can go ahead and decide what kind of comments work better for you.

Once you’ve decided what kind of character you want for yourself, I can just pick up the slack.

Kotori: Anyway, we didn’t get an’ requests to do food reviews, so why do we hafta practice like this?

Merry-melody are idols that win with dancin’ and singin’, nothin’ more, nothin’ less, you know?

Even then… Tsubasa-shan, you’ve been gettin’ requests to appear on radio shows ‘n things like that. Even today, yer goin’ to be playin’ a role in a drama, so you’ll get guidance on how to act, won’tcha?

Tsubasa: It’s better to be able to do anything, Kotorin. Especially since we’ll keep being idols going forward.

I’ve done a lot of this with my parents when I was a little kid, and I even trained in an idol school… Well, I can probably do most of anything you can throw at me.

I’m not really looking to become a Varidol (an idol that does variety shows), or anything. Kotorin, up until recently, you were a member of the general public.

You’ve gotten a much later start than other idols, so do your best and don’t complain, no matter what lesson it is. You’ll grow more and more. I expect a lot of you — I’m cheering for you!

We are a duo, but I can’t really share my experience or techniques with you. Kotorin, your skills depend on your own effort at extending them.

Kotori: Y-Yup. I’ll do m’best so I don’t drag ya down, Tsubasa-shan ♪

Hmm? These grapes are~... sweet! Yeah, compared the last ones, they’re real sweet! I’m guessin’ it isn’t grape season, but these ones alone are sweet, so… uhh…?

Tsubasa: Your face is so rigiiid. There’s something more important than what your comments are, and it’s that you don’t forget to smile.

Do your best, do your best… ♪

Look, the grapes are dribbling juice all over. Normally, the camera would be stopped and a makeup artist would probably come and have to fix it for you, so be careful. Well, this time I’ll just wipe it up for you~♪

Cleaning up after a guest’s careless mistakes is also part of a “hostess’” modesty ♪

Kotori: “Hostess,” huh… Tsubasa-shan, yer preparing for your role again, aren’tcha?

Tsubasa: Make sure to prepare for yours as well. We don’t have much time until the shooting. Well, I guess all we really have to do is be like “bam!” and show them a cool, idol-like expression. We don’t even have that much dialogue.

But my parents have a proven track record, even in acting~ If their daughter gave a bad performance, they’d be given a hard time. They’d probably even get complaints.

A long time ago, I did a lot as a child actor, but it’s been a while since I’ve actually done any acting. Make sure to prepare for your role. It’s fine to just do what you can, though.

Kotori: Still… What kinda role do I have? I ain’t cast in any distinctive role like you are as a “hostess,” Tsubasa-shan. Even in the screenplay, ‘s just written as “young lady.” I don’t really get it.

Tsubasa: Hmm~ It seems this is a Taishou Romance-type drama. Like, in era of cultural enlightenment, the fad of western clothing has started… And girls back then were highly attuned to the latest trends, always one step ahead with fashion.

You’re in a role without a set name, so you don’t really need to sweat it. You don’t have dialogue, so it’s like how it normally is in the office — you can’t speak.

Kotori: Ahaha, it seems like I’m always just takin’ it easy, sorry. Still, even though I’m only performing without any dialogue, ‘s still pretty tough. How do girls from the Taishou Era act?

Tsubasa: Ah, I’ll nag our manager for some material and make them gather some for you. Even though the era is different, young girls should be the same as they are now, so I think it’d be okay for you to just be yourself.

Kotori: But ‘m still a tad doubtful. If I got given such an easy role… Why do we have to go out of our way to get a consultation about acting?

Tsubasa: Hmm~ If our reputation is good, we might get invited to perform in a lot of the same type of dramas. There might also be plans for film adaptations or cameos too.

At the second half of those dramas or in the film versions… It seems there’ll be action scenes. Our manager said we should practice for those.

Everything hasn’t been totally set in stone yet, so it’s a little rash. As idols, if we got hurt, it’d be a huge problem, so if a scene looks really hard, they should bring in stuntmen.

Still, this is merrymelo’s first performance in a drama, so… It’s kinda like “just in case,” right?

If our manager told us “practice romantic scenes!”, I probably would’ve killed them, but it doesn’t look like that’s the case… Well, I guess it’s fine.

Besides, it’s more convenient if we’re able to do anything.

Kotori: Ahaha. Tsubasa-shan’s always so forward thinkin’, always moving… it’s amazing. I’ll do my best to keep up, too ♪

Tsubasa: Yeah. We do have some leeway, but you should think for yourself too. I don’t know if we can stay together forever, after all.

notes:
the manager's gender isn't ever specified so unless it's actually mentioned somewhere i'll be using they/them 

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