Chapter Text
…
BEEP!!!
BEEP!!!
BE-
Click.
“HAHAHAHA! TODAY IS THE START OF ANOTHER GLORIOUS DAY!”
“Morning Tsukasa-kun!!!”
“WAH! Miku, Tsukasa, not so loud!”
“Sorry Kaito!”
“Aww you're no fun Kaito!”
Tsukasa chuckled at his two longest and only friends. He quickly got out of bed, grabbed his phone, and made his way over to his mirror. After setting the phone down so Miku and Kaito could still see him, fixing his bed head and checking his face in the mirror, Tsukasa began his daily affirmations, “You are Tsukasa Tenma, the star of the Belladonna Theatre Troupe. Your jobs are: to become the character by any means necessary, put the troupe above all else, and work hard to prove yourself as a star. Anything less would be…”
He paused, not wanting to finish that sentence. It was stupid, Tsukasa knew it was stupid. There was no need to fear words yet…the thought of being a…
There was no point in delaying himself any further, so Tsukasa took a deep breath and finished his sentence, “Anything less would be an unforgivable mistake.”
Tsukasa didn’t move from his spot, he just…stood there, looking at his reflection. It was like he was trying to find something. A flaw perhaps? A crack in his image?
The VSingers shared a look with each other, concerned for the blonde. Miku stepped forward to talk to him, “Tsuk-”
“Tsukasa-kun! Are you up?”
That voice seemed to bring Tsukasa out of his trance. At the sound of the door opening, Miku and Kaito vanished from his phone. A few seconds after they left, Sakaki Kouryuu entered the room. “Good morning My Prize,” Sakaki greeted, “ready to start a new show?”
Tsukasa rolled his eyes, even after all this time he still couldn’t get used to Sakaki’s cheesy nickname for him. Still he was an actor and an actor knew how to get into character, so Tsukasa did the most dramatic bow he could and replied, “Of course my trusted Director, I look forward to seeing what worlds we’ll create together!”
A chuckle escaped Sakaki’s mouth before he placed a hand on Tsukasa’s head, ruffling his hair. “HEY,” the blonde yelled, “I JUST FIXED THAT!”
Sakaki laughed at his response and Tsukasa smiled at that. He always looked for ways to make the older man happy so that he wouldn’t be tossed aside. Once Sakaki calmed down he looked at Tsukasa and began speaking again, “Glad to see you so full of energy. Now, hurry up and get ready, the new guy just made breakfast. Don’t want it to go cold now, do we?”
Tsukasa shook his head, then promised to be down in a few minutes. He went to the bathroom and turned on the shower but before he could do anything else, he stopped to look at himself again in the mirror.
A new show, huh?
…
He could do it.
He could get through it.
He had to.
After getting dressed in his usual attire, Tsukasa made his way to the dining table, where Sakaki and the newest member of Belladonna, Rei Hirogari, were waiting for him. As the blue haired newcomer finished setting the table, Sakaki noticed Tsukasa immediately and asked, “There you are, what took so long?”
“Well thanks to SOMEONE, I had to spend a few minutes fixing my hair. AGAIN.”
“It still looks pretty messy to me, My Prize.”
As soon as he said that, Sakaki once again ruffled Tsukasa’s hair. The young actor let out a wail of despair, he had FINALLY got it to look perfect!
Rei, who had just finished giving Tsukasa his portion of breakfast, addressed the director, “Maybe he got lost like I did? No offense Kouryuu-san, but your house is needlessly huge.”
“I! DID! NOT! GET! LOST!”
Laughter broke out from the two older men, leading Tsukasa to sigh in defeat and start eating his breakfast.
Silence fell over the table as the three began to eat. Not long after they had started eating, Sakaki asked Tsukasa a question, “Tsukasa-kun, have you ever heard of the troupe WonderlandsxShowtime?”
Tsukasa shot the director a disgusted look and asked, “Why would I?”
Sakaki smiled at his response but before he could answer, Rei chimed in, “Oooooooh! I’ve heard of them! They’re this new troupe at Phoenix Wonderland that do these really cool shows with robots and high tech effects and all kinds of stuff! I got to see one last time, it was about-”
Tsukasa decided it was best to tune the older man out. While he admired his passion for acting, the young actor didn’t really care to learn about other troupes. All that mattered was Belladonna, just like Sakaki said.
Speaking of Sakaki, the older director decided it was time to stop Rei’s rambling. He coughed to get both actors’ attention before he continued, “Thank you Rei, that was…insightful. Now then, I’ve decided the troupe will be doing a performance with them at the Main Stage of Phoenix Wonderland. Tsukasa, we’ll be using your new script for this performance. Rei, you won’t be performing this time around.”
Tsukasa nodded, yet he shot Sakaki a look that just said “Why?”. Sakaki met him with a look that said, ‘We’ll talk later’. Rei, meanwhile, was shocked. He stood up from his chair and asked the director, “But why?! I thought you said I’d get to help with the upcoming performance last night!”
“And you will be,” Sakaki stated, “just not on stage.”
Rei sat back down, pouting like a child who was denied dessert. Sakaki continued, “This is all very standard, I assure you. Belladonna uses a very involved form of method acting, not many people are cut out for it. I want you to help me as my assistant director and learn from the other actors just how our shows work. You can do that for me, right?”
Rei was a bit shocked by the question, but nodded and agreed to Sakaki’s demand. The director thanked him and the three troupe members continued to eat breakfast.
After breakfast was finished, Sakaki and Tsukasa made their way back upstairs. The blonde offered to help clean the table but Rei told him he could handle it. “It’s the least I can do,” he said, “go get ready.”
As Tsukasa headed upstairs, he made his way towards Sakaki and grabbed the sleeve of his hoodie and asked, “Are you sure this is a good idea? Every time we work with another troupe it-”
“Doesn’t end well?”
Tsukasa was a bit shocked by the sudden interruption. He tried to speak up again but Sakaki held up his hand and continued, “I know, but Hirogari-kun doesn’t. We need him to understand how we do things around here. He’s a fast learner, I’ll give him that, but he doesn’t understand why we keep our shows so…closed off from others.”
The young actor turned his head back towards the kitchen. Rei was talented, that much was obvious, but he was too trusting of others. Outsiders just got in the way, they didn’t understand the vision that Sakaki the troupe was going for.
Still…
“Is it really worth ruining another troupe?”
Sakaki stared at Tsukasa for a moment. He placed both hands on the boy’s face and guided the blonde to look him in the eyes.
There it was again.
That smile.
The one he would do anything for.
“It’s a necessary sacrifice,” the director said, “we need to show him how to be a proper member of Belladonna. You’ll help me, won’t you Tsukasa-kun?”
As if he needed to ask.
“Of course! After everything you’ve done for me, it’s the least I can do!”
A chuckle escaped the older man’s lips. He gently kissed Tsukasa’s forehead and looked at him with pride. “Thank you, My Prize,” he said, “I knew I could trust you.”
Sakaki walked away after that, telling Tsukasa to hurry and get his things so they could leave quickly. As the blonde entered his room once more, he set his phone down on the chest of drawers by his mirror. Kaito appeared once more, a bit conflicted. “Tsukasa-kun,” he asked, voice trembling, “is this…really ok with you?”
“...I know how you feel, Kaito-san, but if Sakaki-san thinks this is necessary then…we have to. For the good of Belladonna.”
“...Ok then.”
Kaito disappeared after that, but Tsukasa didn’t have time to check in on the blue VSinger. He simply grabbed his bag and walked out the door.