Main Story/Season 1/Act 1/The Elite's Dignity 5

The Elite's Dignity 5 Translation: Dreaming Translations
Chapter 28
	Back inside my dorm, I laid eyes on the back view of a figure seated on the sofa.
Yuma Mochizuki	Yanagi-senpai, um… just now…
	I began to speak without thinking, before I realized that I didn’t yet know what exactly it was that I wanted to say. I tightly clenched both of my fists and cast my gaze downward.
Yuma Mochizuki	(At the welcome party, no one even paid me any mind…)
	But Yanagi-senpai stood on the stage with me. He performed a Dream Live with me.
Yuma Mochizuki	(Nito said… I looked like I was having fun.) (He’s not wrong. I had fun performing a Dream Live with Yanagi-senpai. But that’s not all—) (Above anything else… I was happy.)
	When I returned to that stage, the sight that leapt into my eyes… The audience, full of hundreds… no, thousands of people.
Yuma Mochizuki	(Everyone… everyone was looking at me.) (They looked at me, and surely they could hear my voice, my words.) Fate is… changing. (When Yanagi-senpai said that, I didn’t understand the true meaning… I still don’t, but…)
	I was happy, and it brought me strength. … On an island with no connection to Tokyo. All alone. I never paid any mind to what people other than myself thought about me. In that moment, I felt a joy that I’d only ever felt in those days I spent doing nothing but frantically drawing my manga.
Yuma Mochizuki	(For the very first time, I feel like I was reflected in others’ eyes.) I just wanted to say… thank ya kindly, from the bottom of my heart.
	I turned toward Yanagi-senpai, who hadn’t moved a muscle from where he sat on the sofa, and quickly gave a bow.
Yanagi Hanabusa	… Pfft. “Thank ya kindly”? What is that?
Yuma Mochizuki	!? Senpai, why are you behind me? Then the person on the sofa is…
Yanagi Hanabusa	That’s a good friend of mine.
	Carrying a bottle of milk, he walked over to the sofa and lifted “that” up.
Yuma Mochizuki	… A stuffed animal? A goat…?
Yanagi Hanabusa	I got it from my little sister. Isn’t it cute? Which means… you just gave your heartful thanks to a stuffed animal. Haha.
Yuma Mochizuki	… My eyes are bad. I thought it was you, Yanagi-senpai.
Yanagi Hanabusa	I see. So it’s my fault, hm?
	Setting down the milk and the stuffed animal, Senpai pulled something from his pocket instead.
Yuma Mochizuki	Ah… my glasses. Are you giving them back to me?
Yanagi Hanabusa	Until our next live, you’re going to practice wearing contacts.
	They were returned into my hands, polished beautifully. I was relieved to see them for the first time in a while.
Yuma Mochizuki	… I can see. Thank you very much.
Yanagi Hanabusa	You’re very welcome… kindly.
Yuma Mochizuki	… That’s not how it works.
Yanagi Hanabusa	Fufu. Anyway, to celebrate today, why don’t we have a toast?
	Senpai poured milk into two cups that had already been prepared on the table.
Yanagi Hanabusa	The Hanabusa family has a contracted dairy farmer. Every day first thing in the morning, this fresh milk is delivered to us. Here. You take a glass too, Yuma.
Yuma Mochizuki	Ah… okay.
Yanagi Hanabusa	Now then, to our first live being a total success… cheers.
	[Clink!]
Yuma Mochizuki	… Cheers. (So people in Tokyo have gotten to the point that they do toasts with milk, huh…)
	As I thought such things, I took a sip of the Hanabusa family’s favorite milk.
Yuma Mochizuki	–– D–
Yanagi Hanabusa	Mmhm?
Yuma Mochizuki	DELICIOUUUUUUUUUUUUS–––––!
Yanagi Hanabusa	Haha, right? Feel free to have seconds.
	As I sat fascinated by the rich, delicious milk, I realized one thing.
Yanagi Hanabusa	Yuma, you understand something delicious when you see it, don’t you?
	Through the lenses of my glasses, I could see Yanagi-senpai’s smile perfectly.
Location Change: Touji & Shion's Dorm
	Quietly entering the room, Shion looked down at the young man already asleep in bed, eyes narrowing.
Shion Mikekado	Harimiya Touji. …… Harimiya.
	Touji’s exhaustion was evident even in his sleeping face. Staring at those unmoving eyelids with an emotionless gaze… Shion noticed something sitting at the bedside, and looked toward it.
Shion Mikekado	…?
	Beneath a thick novel, several sheets of paper appeared to be hidden. Taking particular notice of one sheet that looked like it had been crumpled up and then spread out again, Shion reached out and picked it up.
Shion Mikekado	A staff score…
	It was filled in with jet black musical notes. A wavering melody with no coherence began to flow into Shion’s head ––… Looking down at the sleeping Touji once more, Shion returned the score to its place.
Touji Harimiya	Gh… nh… perfect… the… very top……zzz…
Shion Mikekado	…… You poor thing.
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