Preparation ✧ 4

At the end of our relatively short walk, we arrived in front of a building that… looked like a simple apartment of seven-ish floors? I tilted my head. Somehow this wasn't what I had in mind.

“Here we are. We tend to rent a building closeby to the places we perform in. There's a garden behind, people who need space to practice usually go there.”

Ah, so that's how it was. I nodded, and followed him from behind as he informed me that most of the staff was probably on the second floor at the moment.

As I watched his back, strange feelings appeared in my heart. It was warm, but very unlike the troublesome weather of the day. It suddenly came to me, was this what friendship felt like? The feeling of wanting to get to know someone, to have more experiences together, alongside the conversation we had exchanged while walking…

“When I think about it… this really is the first time you got interested in forming a bond with someone. It almost makes me want to cry…”

Well, I did catch a good vibe with most of the troupe, but it would be a lie if I said that my interactions were 100% heartfelt. This time… I actually wanted to talk more with him.

But that'd be for later, as he opened the door into a spacious studio with tables and cushions scattered around. There were about fifteen people inside, all chatting and discussing plans between themselves. Some of them noticed our arrival, and stopped to wave at us, while some of them continued their activities, not noticing us just yet.

The Shortstack, Ivone hopped to our side and greeted us brightly in Lartican.

“Hello there, beloved Rudi anddd… which one is it you at the moment~?”

I sighed. “Sadly, it's Mimi. Having to deal with this weather is making me think that hell would be cooler.”

This made her laugh as she patted my arm. “Don't worry, we have AC here, you'll freshen up in no time!” She turned to Rudi and examined his antlers, her intention apparent with the way she had to raise her neck just to see them. With a nod, she declared that they were as gorgeous as usual.

Rudi snorted, albeit in a cold manner. “They better look good, after all the trouble they cause me.”

Ivone didn't seem to notice the chill in his tone and kept on smiling brightly. It was at that moment when I noticed a tall, dark haired man sitting by one of the tables. Even though I couldn't see his face, there were a lot of strange details about him. His posture. The way he seemed to be wearing… ear muffs?

“In this weather, gosh…?”

That was not all. He seemed to be eating a piece of bread, and singing loudly to himself. Ivone turned to glare at him, her cheery expression turning sharp in just a moment and started shouting.

“Roan, Roan!!!” She added some other things in a language I didn't recognize, increasingly getting more aggressive.

“Oh, Roan…! So that's him…”

Rai had always been curious to meet him, but the slight disappointment in her voice told me that he was not exactly what she expected.

Lost in his own world, he didn't seem to hear Ivone at all. Snapping, she put her knife throwing skills into use, and grabbed the nearest pillow and hit his back with precision. He wailed as if he were shot with a bullet. This inspired a chuckle from me, and from Rudi as well. My new friend actually seemed to enjoy the situation quite a bit.

“Ow, ow, ow!!! Ivone, that was you wasn't it? Whatever happened to using words?”

The tall man called Roan stood up from his seat, lowering his ear muffs and patting his back in an attempt to soothe the impacted area. He spoke in Lartican, and unlike his carefree appearance, he had perfect pronunciation. The short blonde woman grumbled in response.

“As if I didn't try. I swear, your ears work so well until the moments they have to. Get yourself over here and greet them.”

He looked at us, standing still in front of the door. His eyes widened and so did the smile on his face. Almost exaggeratingly so.

“Woah woah, if it isn't Mister Rudinn and Miss Mirai!”

He sprang towards us, almost stumbling on nothing. He kept the bread he was eating in his hand, and I couldn't help but notice that his mouth was dirtied with a dark sort of jam. He didn't bother to clean his mouth before approaching us.

“He is kind of handsome, at least…”

Rai muttered, seemingly trying to find some positive points about this strange man. Meanwhile, Rudi nodded and greeted him back.

“Heya, Roan.”

The black haired weirdo swayed from side to side, very happy to see him. “Hiiii, Mister Rudinn! Even though I saw you just this morning. Hehe.”

Then he turned towards me, and before I could open my mouth to produce a sound, he sharply raised his free hand. He took a bite from the piece of bread in his other hand, and after swallowing it, he wiped off the smile from his face, replacing it with a solemn expression.

“Hop hop! Before we get familiar with each other and that inevitably influencing your opinions, let me hear your honest thoughts about the Circus. Anything that can be improved?”

…what was this guy’s deal.

He was acting way out of the norm, that forget me—even Rai was flabbergasted. Ivone shook her head, gave me another pat on the arm and muttered “Good luck, kiddo. I have things to do so I will have to leave you with him, sorry.”

Taking this chance, Rudi also left the scene. Now it was just me, the weirdo, and the spectating Rai. He was staring at me, intently, expecting an answer.

“Uh, well… We thought the slogan in the pamphlet could be more original? It's not terrible but it could be catchier.”

He nodded, eyebrows furrowed seriously. It didn't fit his innocent facial features. Suppressing a smirk, I continued.

“Uh… kind of a personal opinion, but I found the music to be strange. Like… why was it like that…”

This made him throw his head back dramatically and start laughing. His loud laughter made me feel uncharacteristically self conscious, glancing at people around—wondering if they were bothered and possibly glaring at us. However, no one seemed to pay him any attention.

“Mahahahahaha!! Yes, that's exactly what I meant! Great, great honesty!”

He brought his head back to look directly to my face, and squinted his eyes with a gleam in them. “You see, I'm the one in charge of the music, and it's me who composes most of them. Thank you for your valuable criticism~”

…?

Why did he look so happy then?

Rai started panicking. “Oh no! No one had told us that he was in charge of the music, only that he was a translator who knows a lot of languages… Mimi, apologize now!!!”

I mean, he didn't seem to mind my words? I kinda didn't know how to react to this unexpected revelation and his animated reactions.

He shook his head. “Well well, not that getting to know me stops people from telling me that it's weird and unlike anything they heard, but how do I know it's not pure flattery, yeah~?”

How optimistic. I didn't think people meant those in a good way…

Suddenly, I lost control of the limbs and realized that I had been sent back to being dormant. Oh, finally… but I couldn't relax just yet, as poor Rai was quite in the agitated state.

“Ah, ah, ah…! I apologize Mister Roan… We didn't mean to offend you in any way—”

He tilted his neck to the side, taking a bite from his jam covered bread nonchalantly. “I'm not offended at all, though? Also, your voice changed.”

What voice change? Me and Rai shared the same vocal cords. I guess he meant the demeanor, then yeah, the change would be apparent to even someone who met us for the first time.

“M-my voice? Ah, um… We have the same voice but… I am Rai. It was Mimi fronting until now, she was the one who said your music was strange—”

Urgh, why was she pointing that out? Like a little kid blaming her sister for a broken vase.

He chuckled, rather softly. It contrasted with his fashion choices, which were giving sort of a punk-ish vibe.

“Miss Rai. I don't mind at all. It's a common criticism I received, I just wanted to try new things for our Balamur show. I will tone it down a notch with my new compositions.”

His smile seemed to melt Rai’s nerves, and I could sense her warming up to him.

“Ah ah, as for the slogan, let me know if you get any ideas, yeah? Though you could relay it directly to Aunt Emery, too!”

Aunt Emery. Oh. It suddenly all clicked in our mind.

“Mimi, oh my god… I was thinking that his face was reminding me of someone…!”

It almost made me feel stupid at how late we had realized—how obvious could it be that they were relatives?! Their dark hair, similar facial features, that impeccable Northern Lartican pronunciation, and the biggest hint of all, the picture in the doctor’s office! That was none other than Roan in front of us.

“Which… means…”

She couldn't continue her sentence; she didn't have to, as I had the same thought. Could it be that he was the son of the late director…?