А это как раз описание той мини-постановки из "Буги-вуги", которая содержит сцену с сигаретой. И от которой меня штырит непадеццки. )))
И я, пожалуй, когда закончу 18-й том, пойду читать эти самые "Буги-вуги", а основной цикл опять встанет на паузу, судя по всему. Разрывает меня, короче.
As mentioned, along with the Ruritsubame Blues play, an event to celebrate Mirage of Blaze starting 25 years ago was organized in 2015. As a part of that event, an extra scene from the Shôwa era novel’s fifth book was acted out, due to a request from Kuwabara Mizuna-sensei herself.
The actors probably hadn’t had the time to properly practice it, as they are all looking at scripts during the scene, but let’s not let that bother us. I have tried translating this piece with a help of a friend - a huge thank you to her! If you see anything that is wrong or you can suggest a better way to express the lines in English, please let me know so I can edit this.
The scene is set during the time when Kase and Marii have just begun working at Regalo.
So, please enjoy this scene, called “Love Me Tender”:
We are in Regalo, and there’s trouble: Marii has received a sudden request from Regalo’s owner Shigyou to sing solo, even though she is not experienced yet. Marii is feeling very nervous about this. Kase seems sympathetic, but encourages her to try: they shouldn’t leave the stage empty, after all, and Shigyou wouldn’t ask her if he didn’t have faith in her. Marii is worried that singing alone for the first time, her voice will sound nervous, but in the end decides to try her best and takes the stage.
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After Marii starts singing, Kuchiki pops up behind the counter and starts complaining at Kase: why is someone so bad singing on the stage? He’s not impressed at all. Kase explains she’s nervous because it’s her first time, but Kuchiki insists the place deserves better. Kase tells him it’s just for today and he should watch her for now. Still Kuchiki keeps saying she’s no good, so he’s not going to recognize her. Not going to watch her any longer, he return behind the counter to work.
Kase sighs, and speaking to himself, complains Kuchiki doesn’t realize they are there to protect him from the spirits.
Next, Kase sees Naoe coming in and taking a seat. “That guy…” he mutters, and goes over to him.
“A beer, please.” says Naoe, seeming amused.
“What did you come here for, Naoe?” Kase asks strictly.
“So it’s true you started working in a jazz hall. A man who aimed to become a navy officer now being a mere waiter in a bar in the outskirts of the city. If Kase’s parent’s saw this, they would cry.”
While saying this, a bit smugly, Naoe looks Kase up.
“If you have a complaint, take it to that man.” Kase says, gesturing towards Kuchiki, who is cleaning the glasses at the counter.
After taking a look, Naoe answers, now more serious:
“I see. Even in a crowd, one would immediately notice that.”
They say a few words about the spirits surrounding Kuchiki, but Naoe isn’t able to see anything special that would help them solve the issue either.
“Leaving that aside”, continues Naoe, “what has Haruie started doing? First you playing a waiter, and now her playing a diva?”
“This isn’t a place for students to relax. If you’re just going to drink one useless bottle, go home.”
“No. Since I especially came here, I’ll watch Marii’s performance.”
At this, Kase sighs and leaves Naoe alone, and the stage goes dark.
Next, Naoe is alone on the stage, sitting around alone in silence. As he gets up, Kagetora, now dressed in his leather jacket, comes out from the back room.
Kagetora asks if Naoe found out anything about the spirits. Naoe says he did a spiritual reading of the surroundings, and noted there are still a lot of earthbound spirits around. His tone is light, and Kagetora takes a good at him.
“Are you drunk?”
Naoe admits that mixing alcohol and performing an exorcism might have made him a bit tipsy. Kagetora starts talking about Naoe’s former and current bodies:
“Yamaguchi was good with alcohol, but Naoki is not the same. If you’ll drink thinking of your former host body, you’re in for a painful experience.”
“This body is just not used to drinking yet.”
“You’re like a student getting into nightlife. How nice.”
Not provoked by Kagetora’s sarcasm, Naoe is quiet for a moment. Looking somewhat unhappy, he changes the topic:
“Wouldn’t you stop doing this kind of work?”
“What?” Kagetora asks softly, turning back to look at Naoe.
“Working at night is poison for the body. You’re wearing glasses because of miosis, right? Haruie said you’re having difficulties seeing in dark places. These are after-effects from the poison gas.”
“Aren’t you saying a lot. It’s not a big deal.”
“That’s a lie. You’re just pretending to endure it. Smoking despite it damaging your lungs, working in a place full of cigarette smoke… If it’s just for marking that man, it would be just as well to leave it to Nokizaru. Why do you put such a strain on yourself? That the US forces dropped a bomb on this city is not your fault. Looking like you are trying to carry the responsibility of those hundreds of thousand of people who died all on your own… Is all the tragedy in this world your fault?”
Naoe laughs for a bit. His tone has been growing from worried and empathetic to slightly mocking.
“If Shakespeare were here, he would make a comedy out of this. Being excessively self-conscious, you are conceited.”
Kagetora has been quietly listening to all this. Turning around, he asks, sounding threateningly calm: “Us exorcising the people who died - that’s conceited?”
“I’m saying it’s laughable. The people who are not able to decide on ending their own lives, forcing requiems on strangers souls - what would that be if not comedic.”
While Naoe says this, Kagetora walks over to him and suddenly grabs him by the collar of his jacket, surprising Naoe.
“Is that all you wanted to say?”
Kagetora tightens his grip, and Naoe gasps.
“Looks like that by changing to a younger body, you became childish again. Since you’re a kid, that’s fine.”
Kagetora lifts his chin a bit, and looking at Naoe through half-lidded eyes, says with a low voice:
“I’ll teach you the seriousness of an adult.”
Naoe struggles with his voice: “Kagetora-sama…”
Kagetora pushes Naoe back and raises his voice: “Painful? It’s painful, isn’t it? The dead are relieved from the pain of dying. They won’t become vengeful ghosts. Those who become vengeful ghosts are the ones who can’t escape the suffering even when they are dead.”
Kagetora roughly pulls Naoe closer to himself.
“Please let me go…”
“Requiems for souls? Aren’t you the conceited one? We can’t afford such great privilege. All we do is cut the rope of suffering with the knife called “exorcism”. That’s all.”
After speaking his mind, Kagetora shoves Naoe aside, and he stumbles, coughing and falling on his knees.
Kagetora calmly stops to light a cigarette. He then turns to look back at Naoe, speaking in a more casual manner again.
“If you want to be a kid again, I will treat you as one. Besides, such an inexperienced kid won’t be much of a challenge to someone like me who’s been in the navy.”
Naoe has somewhat collected himself, though his clothes are in a bit of a disarray. He gets up and walks to Kagetora.
“Should we test whether I’m a challenge or not?”
“You want to try sumo wrestling? Cut it out. An adult can’t get serious with a school boy.”
Naoe puts more force into his words: “For an adult, you’re saying pretty petty things. Sumo wrestling is not the only way to test strength.”
“Oh? What other ways to test strength do you know?”
“For example, how about this kind of a test.”
After saying this, Naoe first takes the cigarette from Kagetora’s hands, and then quickly takes a firm hold of his chin, making Kagetora step back but not letting him go.
Naoe stares straight into his eyes, but Kagetora doesn’t struggle or try to turn away. Instead, he calmly reaches his hand to take back the cigarette from Naoe, and lifting it to his face, sticks it into Naoe’s mouth.
There’s surprise in Naoe’s eyes at first, but he stops moving, only intensely looking at Kagetora.
Kagetora digs out another cigarette from his pocket, lifts it to his own lips, and then brings it together with Naoe’s to light it up.
Kagetora inhales, and blows a puff of smoke on Naoe’s face, who knits his brows and turns his head away.
“Do you feel a bit more like an adult now?” Kagetora asks, still appearing to be in complete control.
Naoe takes the cigarette out of his mouth and looks at Kagetora under his brows, seeming quite dissatisfied. “Are you making a fool out of me?”
“Getting angry like that is childish. Really. You have really become a kid again. The effect of the physical body is tremendous.”
The moment is brought to an end when Kuchiki shows up, casually calling out Masa, their colleague. He gets quite a scare seeing Kagetora and Naoe standing so close together. Naoe lets Kagetora go, and he calmly takes a step away from him. Kuchiki sounds quite weirded out.
“What are you guys doing over there?”
Kagetora explains with a perfect poker face: “I didn’t have a light so I just borrowed from him.”
“You should at least keep a pack of matches with you!” says Kuchiki.
As Naoe takes some distance, Kuchiki beckons Kase to come closer to ask him about Marii. Kase tells him she went home already. He also heard from Shigyou that later on Marii might get her real debut as a solo singer.
Kuchiki unthinkingly reacts really happily to the news: “Really?!” When Kase goes “eh?”, he awkwardly mutters for a bit, and then starts complaining again: with Marii being so bad, she will just drag down the band - what is the boss thinking?
Kase interrupts his tirade:
“Kuchiki, let’s go home.”
“What? I don’t want to.”
“We’re going to the same direction, aren’t we.”
“… Well, okay then.”
As Kase and Kuchiki leave together, Naoe is left alone, looking quite confused.
“What was that…” he mutters, and looks at the cigarette he is still holding. “What a terrible man.”
Slowly, Naoe puts the cigarette back between his lips, and only then leaves Regalo.
After the scene goes black for a moment, we see Regalo again. Marii is signing, with Kase and Kuchiki watching from the counter.
Kuchiki seems quite smitten by now, and says Marii is doing pretty well despite being so bad. Kase seems amused and knowing: “yeah, despite being so bad, right?”
“Hey Kase. Let’s clean up quickly today and go get a drink.”
“Your treat?”
“Huh? Stop joking around.” says Kuchiki, but smiles to Kase before leaving the stage.
Meanwhile, Naoe has made it back, looking resigned. Kagetora notices him, sitting there with his back to the counter, and quietly watches him.
The stage blacks down, only showing the two of them in the end as the piano plays in the background.
Взято у imperfekti.