What if Honma Himawari Had Quit the Audition That Day? - Episode 5

A week had passed since that night by the riverbed. Honma Himawari and Tsukino's "Late-Night Guda-Guda Talk" continued on, unchanged. Friday, midnight. Voice Box, Room Seven. One smartphone. Just the two of them. But something *had* changed. The atmosphere in the comments section. *'Watching again today!'* *'You two, keep it up!'* *'Mackerel lololol'* The wave of slander and abuse had receded before they knew it. In its place, quiet, warm comments had grown. The view count was still around two hundred. Channel subscribers had passed sixty. Just sixty. But those sixty people gathered here, every Friday, late at night. "[excited] It's started again today! Himawari and Tsukino's Late-Night Radio!" Tsukino shouted. Himawari laughed. "[laughing] Tsukino, you're so energetic today too. It's already one in the morning, you know." "[serious] Obviously! This time is my golden hour!" Comments scrolled by. *'Tsukino-san in top form again today lol'* *'Waiting for Himawari-chan's tsukkomi'* Himawari peered at her smartphone screen. Her large brown eyes sparkled, reflecting the screen's light. (*Ah, today is fun too.*) The center of her chest felt gently, warmly full. But. Deep, deep down inside. (*Is it really okay to stay like this?*) A small, a truly small voice spoke. --- The stream ended at three in the morning. When they left Voice Box, the late-spring night breeze wrapped around them. A lukewarm wind. Somewhere, frogs were croaking. "[gentle] Himawari, good work today." Tsukino said. The bun on the left side of her hair bobbed. "[gentle] Yeah. You too, Tsukino." Himawari kicked up her bicycle's kickstand. But she didn't put her foot on the pedal. "[whispers] ...Hey, Tsukino." "[surprised] Hm?" "[whispers] Are we... okay just staying like this?" Silence. The streetlight flickered on and off. Tsukino's face was momentarily cast in shadow. "[serious] What do you mean?" "[whispers] It's... how do I put it... It's fun. It's really fun. But we can't just stay like this forever, right? I can't just keep working my convenience store part-time job forever either..." The words wouldn't come out right. She didn't even fully understand her own feelings herself. "[sad] Sorry, saying weird stuff..." "[serious] It's not weird." Tsukino looked straight into Himawari's eyes. Her round, black eyes were sharper than usual. "[serious] Himawari, you want to aim higher, right?" "[surprised] Eh..." "[serious] Me too." Tsukino said. The right corner of her lips lifted slightly. "[serious] I've been thinking about it too. Streaming from a karaoke box, laughing in front of sixty people... I don't want it to end there. I want to become a comedian. I want to stand on stage." Himawari caught her breath. (*Tsukino was thinking the same thing.*) "[serious] Hey, Himawari." "[whispers] ...Yeah." "[serious] Next Saturday, there's an amateur comedy live show called 'Gera Night' at a live house in Namba. It's one I used to do a lot. I'm thinking of going on there one more time." "[surprised] Ehh!? But Tsukino, you bombed there fifty times, right!?" "[excited] The fifty-first time, I'm gonna get laughs! And this time, I'm not alone." Tsukino grabbed Himawari's hand. A rough, but warm hand. "[excited] Himawari, you're coming with me. Let's go on together." "[surprised] ...Huh? W-wait, hold on, me, talking in front of people..." "[serious] You can do it. Himawari, you have talent. I guarantee it." "[whispers] ...But, I..." Inside Himawari's head, the memory of that day came flooding back. Two years ago. The final audition for Nijisanji. A room in a big building in Osaka. Everyone around her was sparkling, and she was the only one out of place. "[whispers] ...I might run away again." Her voice trembled. "[gentle] It's okay to run away." Himawari looked up. "[surprised] Huh..." "[gentle] It's okay to run. But after you run, you just have to come back again. Like I've done." Tsukino smiled. With those eyes that drooped down in a figure-eight. "[gentle] Even if you run fifty-one times, if you make them laugh on the fifty-second, you win. That's what being a comedian is, right?" Something deep in Himawari's chest tightened. It hurt. But it wasn't a bad kind of hurt. "[crying] ...Tsukino, you really..." Tears fell. They ran down her cheeks and dropped from her chin. "[surprised] Eh, wait, you're crying again! Himawari, you cry too much!" "[laughing] Because you said something so cool! Even though you're usually so lame!" "[angry] Don't call me lame!" Tsukino poked Himawari's shoulder. Himawari hopped. Their laughter echoed through the nighttime shopping district. --- Saturday. The live house "Underground Pulse" was in the basement of a multi-tenant building in Namba. The sign was small. Going down the stairs, the smell of mold hit their noses. On the walls, flyers from old shows were plastered in layers. "[whispers] ...This is it." Himawari walked down the stairs on trembling legs. Her heart felt like it was going to leap out of her mouth. "[excited] Himawari, over here!" Tsukino was already standing at the entrance to the dressing room. A bright red T-shirt. The bun on the left side. The usual Tsukino. The completely unshakable Tsukino. "[whispers] Tsukino, I..." "[serious] It's fine. If it's you, Himawari, you can do it." The dressing room was a small room, about six tatami mats in size. A mirror on the wall. Folding pipe chairs. There were eight acts performing. All people chasing the same dream. Their turn was third. They waited in the wings. From the audience seats, they could hear laughter. Applause. The MC's voice. "[whispers] Himawari, your hands are shaking." "[whispers] ...Yeah. Sorry." "[gentle] It's fine. Just go on stage while you're still shaking." "[surprised] Huh?" "[serious] Turn all those scared feelings into material. That's what comedy is." Tsukino said. The stage lights illuminated her profile. "[gentle] If they laugh at you, you win." "Next, the third act, please come on!" The MC's voice. Tsukino pulled Himawari's hand. "[excited] Let's go!" The stage. The lights were blinding. There were about thirty people in the audience. Everyone's eyes were on them. Himawari's mind went completely blank. (*Ah, this is bad.*) The words wouldn't come. Seeing Himawari like that, Tsukino laughed. "[laughing] Sorry! My partner's nervous!" Giggles came from the audience. "[excited] After all, this is her first time on stage! It's only natural she's nervous! Ah, but she does have experience dropping out of the Nijisanji final audition, so she should at least have guts!" "[surprised] Hey, Tsukino, don't say that!" Himawari shouted. An involuntary, genuine tsukkomi. The audience burst into laughter. "[excited] Oh, your voice came out! Himawari, just do it like you always do!" (*Like I always do.*) Himawari took a deep breath. That's right. This is Voice Box, Room Seven. On the other side of the screen, sixty friends. "[whispers] ...Um, well..." Himawari gripped the microphone. Her hands were still shaking. "[whispers] A-at my late-night convenience store job, when no customers come, I start doing solo skits to myself, and..." The audience fell silent. "[sad] Eh, um... did I... bomb...?" A beat. And then. "Pfft——!!" Someone burst out laughing. It set off a chain reaction, and the audience was wrapped in laughter. "[surprised] Eh, eh, was that a laughing point just now!?" Tsukino jumped in without missing a beat. "[excited] Himawari, you've hooked them with that! Now just do whatever you want!" Himawari looked around the audience. People laughing. People clapping. Everyone was looking at them. But it wasn't the "scary" feeling from that day. "[excited] Um, okay, here I go! Please listen to this boring story that happened recently!" Himawari hopped. Her convenience store solo skit began. Tsukino threw in interjections. The audience laughed. Himawari looked surprised. Seeing her face, the audience laughed again. The ten-minute slot was over in a flash. "Thank you very much——!!" They shouted together and stepped off the stage. Back in the dressing room, Himawari crouched down on the spot. "[crying] ...I-I did it... I did it..." The tears wouldn't stop. The trembling from earlier was now coming out as tears. "[laughing] Himawari, it was a huge success! You totally killed it! The honest result of the fifty-first try!" Tsukino's eyes were also glistening. "[crying] Tsukino... thank you... I did it..." "[crying] Obviously. I've been telling you from the start that you have talent..." Tsukino's voice was trembling too. The two of them cried for a while in the corner of the dressing room. --- On the way home. The streets of Namba were bustling on Saturday night. "[excited] Himawari, next time we'll get even more laughs! So the points to reflect on today are——" "[laughing] Already thinking about next time!? Let me rest a bit!" "[serious] There's no time to rest! Talent rusts if you don't use it!" "[excited] Whose line is that!" Laughing together, they headed for the station. On the train bound for Minase Station, Himawari opened her smartphone. The channel's comments section. *'Himawari-chan, Tsukino-san, good work at Gera Night! I went to see it!'* *'It was super funny! Please do another live show!'* *'You two as a combo are the best!'* Himawari's eyes grew moist again. "[whispers] Tsukino, look at this." "[surprised] Eh, comments? Whoa, they've increased like crazy! The channel subscribers are at seventy now too!" "[whispers] ...What's going to happen to us from now on?" Himawari closed her smartphone and looked out the window. In the train window, the darkness and her own face were reflected. A brown bob. A yellow hairpin. Her eyes were a little red from crying too much. But the corners of her mouth were smiling. "[excited] It's obvious! We just charge straight ahead! We're gonna take the top of Osaka!" "[laughing] 'The top of Osaka,' that's like the vibe of the Glico sign in Dotonbori!" "[excited] Exactly! Someday we'll do a collab with the Glico sign!" "[laughing] That's obviously impossible!" The train slid into Minase Station. The two of them passed through the ticket gates and headed for their respective apartments. As Himawari climbed the stairs of Copo Minami, she looked at her smartphone once more. One new comment. *'You two are quite funny. If you'd like, would you be interested in talking sometime? I'm from Nakajima Promotion.'* Himawari's feet stopped. Her heart pounded loudly. (*Nakajima Promotion.*) Staring at the screen, Himawari opened the door to her room. A six-tatami room. Next to the desk was that cardboard box. "[whispers] ...I have to talk to Tsukino about this." Still clutching her smartphone, Himawari collapsed onto her bed. She looked at the ceiling. Two stains. The stains she always looked at. But today, somehow, they looked like a laughing face.

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Episode 5

Name: What if Honma Himawari Had Quit the Audition That Day?
Author: Novelia

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