moon-native

[moon-native]

Compass of the Heavens / Part 2

Eichi: ...

... Oh? Over there, is that...?

Mao: Anzu's also having a rough time of it, huh. The fact that you're working up at this hour...

Makoto: ... You mean to say, compared to everyone else, you're not late to work or tired, so you're fine...?

Mao: Even if you pose with your arm flexed like that, you're not really convincing us~? You need to take some time off to rest, properly.

I know we said we'd have the decency not to steal away your free-time, but...

Makoto: "I was looking forward to it, so I was able to give it my all at work, so you don’t have to worry about it"?

That's true. Lately, it's been hard to breathe with everything that's been going on.

I've also really been looking forward to tonight.

Mao: We all have. C'mon, let's get a move on♪

Makoto: Eeh, well, of course I meant all ofー

Hm? What is it, Anzu-chan?

Mao: Tenshouin-senpai's here? ... Ah, you're right.

Thank you for your hard work, Tenshouin-senpai.

Eichi: Thank you as well. Where are you three headed off to?

Mao: A hanging garden, we agreed to go to look at the winter constellations. You can come with us if you'd like, Senpai.

I'm sure you're busy though, so only if it's not a problem.

Eichi: Thank you for the invitation. However, is it alright for someone like me to join in like this? I don't want to be a bother to you.

Mao: It's fine, I'm sure the guys'll be delighted♪

Eichi: The guys...?

Tori: Uuu, I hate snowy places...! Hey, why'd you drag me all the way out here?

Subaru: It's 'cause we happened to run into each other at work☆ Star-gazing's way more fun with other people, don't you think~♪?

Tori: Uuu... I can watch the stars just fine in my room...

Subaru: Aah, shooting star!

Tori: Ehh, where, where!?

Subaru: My bad, it's already gone.

Tori: Uniiii~! You're a real jerk, Akehoshi-senpai! I wanted to watch it before it disappeareeeed!

Hokuto: ... Despite saying all that, Himemiya seems to be enjoying himself quite a lot.

Yuzuru: That is true. Thank you very much for inviting me along this time around.

Due to the unending workload he's been given, the young master also looks quite tired. This has turned out to be a good change of pace.

Young master, Akehoshi-sama. I have prepared the corn potage. Please take some and warm yourselves.

Tori: Umu, no objections here♪ Gulp, gulp...

Subaru: Aaa, that's a lot of corn. As expected of the 1%...☆

Tori: ... Puhaa. Yuzuru, can I have seconds?

Subaru: Me too, me too!

Yuzuru: Sure, I'll make more right away. ... Oh?

Eichi: Good evening, everyone. I hope I didn't interrupt anything.

Tori: Uwaaai, it's Eichi-sama♪ Yuzuru, give Eichi-sama his portion of corn potage~

Hokuto: ... Did you all bring Tenshouin-senpai along as well?

Mao: When we went to go get Anzu, we happened to run into him. Tori and the others are also here, so there's no real reason not to invite him, right?

Makoto: It would've been great if we could've found Hibiki-senpai too. That way, we would've had Trickstar and fine all here together一

Wataru: Hello, hello, hello, it's the Amazing that creeps out when called!

From underneath the square object, hidden in secret, good evening! It's your Wataru Hibiki...☆

Makoto: Whoa, you scared me!!

Tori: Hey you, long hair! Don't crawl out like some vengeful ghost from a horror movie~!

Wataru: Fufu, fufufufufu...☆

Makoto: You're seriously freaking me out! He's crawling at us super fast!

Tori: Uhhii!? Exorcize him, Yuzuru! Or call Hasumi-senpai~!

Yuzuru: Sigh. Even though you're telling me to exorcize him, he's not exactly a spirit. If that's the kind of thing that scares you, he'll just keep teasing you.

... It seems my voice hasn't reached him. He's still trying to run away, playing right into Hibiki-sama's hands.

Well, that's fine. A child who's a child of the wind is a lively child, as they say...♪[1]

Time:〈A while later〉

Eichi: (... Since when did I start looking up at the sky so leisurely like this...? I usually can't help but only look at the ground beneath my feet.)

(I'd forgotten the brilliance of the night sky.)

Subaru:The night sky in winter's pretty great too. I really love it~♪

There, that's the Pleiades constellation! In Japanese, the Pleiades is "Subaru"!

Over there's the Big Dipper! That's Hokke's constellation...☆[2]

Eichi: In Trickstar, there sure seem to be a lot of children whose names are connected to stars. I heard there's an asteroid named "Isara".[3]

Subaru: Really!? What about Ukki? Does Ukki have a star?

Eichi: I'm yet to hear of it. However, there is a chance that we might find something if we investigate it thoroughly.

Though if it doesn't exist, why not search for a new star and name it yourself?

There's a great deal of astronomers, so it'll be difficult, but it's not impossible. With patience, you're bound to find what you're looking for.

Subaru: Searching for stars, huh...? Like what you do, Tenshouin-senpai?

Eichi: Me?

Subaru: Yeah. Because when Tenshouin-senpai's watching idols, his eyes sparkle like he's discovered a star.

I hear that Eichi-senpai often compares idols to stars. Do you also like stars, Senpai?

Eichi: I do. Even though stars are tens of thousands of lightyears away, we can still see them from right here on Earth. Though, some can't be detected with the naked eye.

Generally, celestial bodies are named the moment someone discovers one. No matter how far away or weak they are.

During the discovery itself, a drama between a star and the human is born. Those stars are the idols I love so much.

Subaru: I see... I don’t know if there are any stars named after Tenshouin-senpai, but

Subaru: If I had to compare you to stars, I'd probably pick Orion.

Eichi: That works... in the constellation of Orion, there exists Betelgeuse, and we don't know when it will reach the end of its life and explode. Just like me.[4]

Subaru: Ehh... I wasn't thinking about it like that.

It's a famous star that's easy for anyone to find, so I thought it suited you... sorry.

Eichi: Don’t make that face. It doesn't upset me. If anything, I agree with it.

Within Orion itself, there exists something called a "stellar nursery", where new stars are born within the Orion Nebula.

In that way, I think it's fitting for me, the person who wants to bring forth a number of star idols.

(... So that's it. I should use that motif for my "personalized outfit".)

Anzu-chan, could you come over here?

(BOOM!)[5]

Eichi: ... Oh my. What was that explosion sound just now...?

Subaru: Aa, Hibiki-senpai's doing a magic show!

Everyone's only just starting to get excited, no fair! Lemme join, lemme join~♪

Eichi: ... Fufu. Sounds like an exciting event is about to start. Did you want to go and see it too, Anzu-chan?

"I wanted to know why you called me over"...? Well, that's...

... You see, I... and then... after that, I'd like... alright?

Nnn, you can't really hear what I'm saying?

(Yup, makes sense. The others are quite lively, so what I'm conveying doesn't come across clearly. However, if I raise my voice, I'll just wear myself out.)

Is it alright if I move closer to you? ... Thanks. I should be audible at this distance.

Eichi: ... Fufu. Honestly, it's a bit like I'm sharing secrets with you.

Let's wrap this up before everyone gets jealous. You see, I was thinkingー

This is a Japanese idiom Yuzuru's using. It basically means that even when it's cold, children enjoy being outside, running around and playing.

In Japanese, the Big Dipper is written as "斗七星". The first kanji is in Hokuto's first name, "北斗".

He's not lying, though its full name is "364 Isara". It's named after the Isère River in France, as the river's name was first written down as "Isara".

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant, the life stage before stars burst into giant supernova. It's not the end of a star's lifespan, but like, it kind of is in the sense that it's done being a star.

There's no actual written narration for this, though there's SFX

[moon-native]

Compass of the Heavens / Part 1

Eichi: The end-of-the-year broadcasts for SS have kept me busy, however

I'm glad we’re able to conduct "Flavor" activities without anyone being absent.

Hiyori: It's not like I can turn you down if you tell me it’s the "last one before the end of year". After all, it'd be bland without the main character♪

Ritsu: True. All of the sweets made by your patissier are delicious.

Plus, there's people here who love to hear themselves talk, so it's easy for me to just smile and nod.

Hajime: Fufu. It’s nice that we have all five members...♪

Usually, at least one person can't make it. There's not much we can do about it, but the empty seat's a little lonely.

Tatsumi: I agree. The five of us together are "Flavor".

Next year will surely be just as hectic, however I'd like to be able to plan some time for this sort of thing.

Eichi: That's the intention. Otherwise, my mind and body will just crave it.

Even a flawless superhuman needs rest.

... A lot happened this year as well. Although there are children from different agencies here, I can't not choose some words to reminisce on—

I'm happy that we've come to the point where we can temporarily divide up some of our planning.

It seems like a section of ES management is underestimating Anzu-chan, saying things like "Can she make costumes for all of the idols?" or "This plan will surely fall through".

I wonder if they'll come to realize that she isn't exactly an ordinary girl...♪

Hajime: Speaking of "personalized outfits", you still haven't made one yet, have you Eichi-oniichan?

Is this technically the last one you have to do? Have you heard back from Anzu-san?

Eichi: A while back, I was approached during the planning stage of a "personalized outfit". After all, Eichi Tenshouin, who has been referred to as the face of ES, was a prominent influencer of the idea.

If I were to kick it off, we'd inadvertently come across with some political tone, right? For that reason, I deliberately distanced myself from it and passed the baton to Anzu-chan.

Worried about me having my hands full, she left the date of making my "personalized outfit" up to me.

I thought I'd take into consideration other childrens' outfits as reference, but I’ve been procrastinating on it. I wonder if now's a good time...?

If I act as a big player, there will likely be suspicion of my motives...

Eichi: ...

"Merry Christmas♪"

Fufu...

(The Branco PV really warms my heart. My fatigue is melting away like snow.)

(I want to keep watching it, but I really need to get back to work.)

...

(... Today's tea party was quite pleasant, huh? It's been a while since we've been able to talk aimlessly like that.)

(I was glad to hear the story behind everyone's "personalized outfits". Ritsu-kun was teasing me all, "you're really chomping at the bit", but...)

(It's not really like there's much else I can do? Ritsu-kun aside, no one else would give me any advice.)

(I really wish they'd just feel free to impose on me. Although, it might be hard giving advice to someone in my position.)

(I've become ever-so-slightly resentful of this status of mine.)

(... Aah, that’s right. My "personalized outfit"ー)

(As I'd said at our meet-up, it's about time I came up with something.)

("Just doing a little in your spare time would be fine", is what Anzu-chan told me, but if I obeyed her exact words, I'd never finish this.)

(It's also another one of the many policies to create excitement in ES, so it's a pretty impressive task. I'll need to put in some serious effort, so let's have a go at this.)

(... Although, this is a cumbersome matter. I'll open my sketchbook, but I can't think of anything.)

(What seems to surface in my mind are the many "personalized outfits" I've seen previously.)

(Some have their outfits represent their ideals, others show off their true selves, and more yet express their sentiments towards their fansー)

(They’ve all created a "personalized outfit" unlike any other in this world.)

(It's my turn next. What seems "Eichi Tenshouin"-ish...?)

...

(... I'm not making any progress staring at the ceiling like this. I suppose I'll take a walk in order to improve my thoughts.)