Christmas Live – Line to Line
Chapter Index
Ch 1 - Ch 2 - Ch 3 - Ch 4 - Translation Notes
Chapter 1
Season: Winter
Location: Downtown
(Hmm… Guess it’s a no-go after all. Anzu-san isn’t picking up the phone.)
(That must mean she’s probably busy taking care of that well-known unit of hers, huh?)
(And here I was thinking she might have a job for me. I wonder what she’s up to right now?)
(Well, since this is Anzu-san we’re talking about, maybe she’ll call me back once she notices the missed call…)
(Man, I’m just going around in circles at this point… I’ve been dropping by the stores whose flyers had caught my eye to ask if they had work for me, but…)
(It’s been one rejection after another so far.)
(I figured since our names are relatively well-known in the downtown area, I’d be in demand…)
(But I guess I really can’t do things on my own… It has to be 2wink.)
(Is this the extent of the strength I have as an individual…? Although, I guess 2wink isn’t all that famous, either.)
(If a shop’s looking for work, they’d rather work with a unit that is both popular and prestigious.)
(Even though I’m looking for a job in order to gain that popularity and prestige.)
(Ugh… Nothing’s going well at all. How does Aniki typically find work?)
(To think I’d always be blaming Aniki when telling him to “find us some work already”, too…)
(I hadn’t realized how hard it was to actually get that work. I didn’t know a single thing.)
(…………)
Nihihi. Yuuta-kun, you’re amazing~♪
Huh, what? Sorry, I spaced out for a bit there! I didn’t hear a thing you said!
Ah, I was simply thinking about how incredible it is that you can call someone on the phone without any hesitation.
Personally for me, when I decide to call someone, I need about three days to mentally prepare myself for it!
Ahh… Is that why you barely call me even though I gave you my number, Shinobu-kun?
You’re welcome to call me like whenever, just to kill some time or something, y’know?
Ahh, no, it is just—It’s quite difficult to let go of habits so deeply ingrained within me…
I’m terrible with phone calls. I just cannot help but feel anxious when we cannot see each other’s face while speaking.
You say “see each other’s face”, but you’re always hiding yours under your bangs!
Now I’m all curious about what’s going on with that eye of yours! Can I take a look?
Eep—Spare me! Gosh, that’s very insensitive of you, you know…!?
I’m being insensitive!? I-I’m sorry?
Uuu, you don’t have to apologize, Yuuta-kun. I am simply still too embarrassed to lay my entire face bare.
You, on the other hand, are always so bold and confident; I really admire that~♪
(Ahaha, it makes me happy how Shinobu-kun’s so impressed even by the most trivial things… This kind of thing is new to me, it’s like having a little brother.)
In any case, I’m sure Anzu-dono’s busy, too. It’s almost time for StarFes, and then there’s the massive event “SS” that’s happening at the end of the year.1
It isn’t only her—Isara-dono seems busier than usual these days, as well.
He’s an important member in the Student Council, after all. Not to mention that he’s also going to perform in SS as a member of Trickstar, the unit that will represent our school.
He truly is an incredible person…
To be honest, it is truly a mystery why he’s always made time for someone like me… Uuu, my body and soul shiver from the cold…
Keep your spirits up, Shinobu-kun. I’m sorry, I feel like I’m making you walk around for no reason at all… I can’t find any work at all, so how about we call it and go home for the day?
If that’s what you prefer, Yuuta-kun, then it’s alright with me. I’m simply here to accompany you, so~?
Oh, right. Do you wanna get dinner somewhere, then? I’ll treat ya to somethin’ for helping me look for work, okay~, how ‘bout it?
Mm, is this not an odd time for dinner?
I prefer having a small snack instead~ For you see, I am a ninja who manages fine without much food.
So you’re a small eater, huh, Shinobu-kun? Won’t that stunt your height?
Uu~… But, but, a small stature comes in great use for infiltration missions, no?
Ah! They’re selling takoyaki over there! Let’s get that! Since I’m a big eater and you’re a small eater, we can probably split it just right! ♪2
Ooh. Yuuta-kun, you sometimes drop conversation topics out of nowhere, don’t you…?
Huh, do I? Hmm… I don’t usually have to say anything in particular for Aniki to understand me… So I guess I skip verbalizing at times?
Hwaah~, the two of you have such a wondrous connection as twins… I’m a little bit jealous. I’m an only child, you see.
Hm… It’s just that we’ve always been together growing up, so we just kinda understand one another.
It’s not like some supernatural telepathy or anything, you know? Sooner or later, we won’t know what the other’s thinking anymore.
Even now, I’m not sure if he knows what I’m thinking~.
It gets me really irritated all the time. It’s because we’re so similar that even the slightest differences bother me, you know?
Chapter 2
Hweeh!?
W-What is it? Don’t make weird noises out of nowhere, that scared me…!
Ahh, Yuuta-kun… Which means, the one I see across the street must be Hinata-kun, correct?
My soul nearly left my body there, you know~! You were talking to me just a moment ago, and then it was as if you suddenly teleported all the way over there! I-I thought it was ninjutsu for a second…!
Huh? What do you mean by that… Wait, you’re right, that is Aniki over there, across the street!
~……♪
W-What are you doing, Aniki? And what’s with that outfit? Is it Santa-san…? But it’s got horns, so a reindeer…?
God, now I’m angry! He’s doing some nonsense without telling me again!
(I don’t feel as though Yuuta-kun’s any different, though… He was also doing something without telling his brother…)
(But I think he’ll get angry if I say that; I shall keep my mouth zipped here. I’m the kind of kid who can read the room.)
~……♪
(Oh—I see Tetora-kun next to Hinata-kun!)
(Tetora-kun is, on the other hand, simply wearing the academy’s idol uniform~ But it looks a little too cold to wear by itself in this season, does it not…?)
(Uuu, it feels weird to be seen happily hanging out with a friend from class by a friend from my unit…)
(I don’t have a single clue how I’m supposed to act here… Ahh, I’m aware there’s more important things to worry about here, however!)
Aniki…!
Uhyah—!? Yuuta-kun, you’ll get hurt if you run here! Some parts of the road are frozen over with ice! Wait a mome—W-Woah!?
(Ooh… Yuuta-kun’s slipping through the crowd so smoothly! He must have really trained himself, whether in agility or something else…)
(I cannot allow myself to fall behind and lose! Nin-nin…♪)
Woah—? Someone’s rushing over toward us, Hinata-kun.
Huh, what’s going on? Are we gettin’ robbed? Beat ‘em up, Tetsu-kun! ♪
Nah, I can’t beat that guy up… It’s your li’l brother, y’know?
Ack, you’re right!
Y-Yuuta-ku~n? What a coincidence, meeting you here, huh? ☆
Don’t “what a coincidence ☆” me, Aniki! What is this? Why didn’t you tell me you’re working with, uhh… that guy from Ryuseitai?
Are you hoping to leave 2wink for Ryuseitai, or something?
Well, fine, not like I’ll stop you! I bet you got so sick of me always nagging at you, huh!?
No, that’s not… Aren’t you misunderstanding, Yuuta-ku~n?
Then quit doing things that can be misunderstood every single time! If you’re gonna do something, then talk to me about it. We’re the two-in-one 2wink, aren’t we~!?
No, umm? You’re wrong, this doesn’t count as cheating! I’m serious!
Calm down a li’l, ermm, the Yuuta-kun twi—Yuuta-kun.
You can’t just yell at someone without hearing ‘em out first. You gotta listen to what your big bro has to say too, ‘kay~?
You’re just an outsider, so don’t stick your nose into this! This is a 2wink matter, a family matter!
Huff, huff…! I finally caught up… What’s the situation right now?
Ah, Sengoku-kun. ‘Suuup~ It’s not every day we meet around town, huh~♪
O-Owh… It is because I can’t handle crowds… T-Tetora-kun, wh-what’re you doin’… doing here?
How come you’re stammering like that?
I bet it’s ‘cuz it’s too cold to talk properly, isn’t it~? Ahaha~ Lemme go getcha some hot coffee. ♪
Ah, no! Leave that aside for now—Yuuta-kun’s strangling Hinata-kun, please stop him! I won’t be able to hold him back with my strength, so…!?
Oh, woah—Heeey~ You’re getting in the way of business by causing a ruckus in front of the store, y’know?
Shut it! Aniki, you better have a good explanation!
Nggh… W-Well, you see… It’s just a small part-time job! I didn’t have enough cash for the ingredients for the Christmas cake, you see!
And you know~, I’m gonna make somethin’ really gorgeous this year! ☆
Huh? But Hinata-kun, didn’t you say something ‘bout 2wink’s unit finan—Mmphh!?
D-Don’t say anything! Please, Tetsu-kun!
Now what are you whispering to each other about? Well, whatever, like I care! What’s it matter what you do with the money you earn, Aniki! It’s Aniki’s business, isn’t it~?
And I get to have my own business, too! Let’s go, Shinobu-kun!
Huh? Huh? H-Hold on—… Go where? Awawa—?
Hey, hold it right there! Please don’t be so rough with my comrade! He’ll trip and get hurt if you keep pulling him so forcefully!
Owowowow, you’re being rough too, Tetora-kun! Don’t grab my arm so tightly, you’ll leave a bruise—Wait, my arms are going to come off at this rate…!?
Ugh~! This is gettin’ so chaotic, I dunno what’s even goin’ on anymore! Everyone, take a deep breath!
Or else I’ll make you zip it with my fists!
It’s almost Christmas, so don’t go doing somethin’ as stupid as getting all tense at this point in the year! If you don’t start bein’ good kids, Santa-san won’t come visit you!
Chapter 3
Location: Park’s Live Stage
…………
…………
Ah~ Ahem! I’d like someone to explain to me what’s going on, so that I can understand!
So, ermm, what’s the situation? Those two are from 2wink, right?
They always looked to be getting along, so why would they be fighting now? Nagumo, Sengoku, please explain it to me!
When I tried contacting you guys, you were gasping for breath asking for help, so I rushed over as fast as I could…
But I can’t really intervene if I don’t know what’s going on, y’know?
I feel a little proud of you all for relying on me, though! You can all rest easy now that the burning heart Morisawa Chiaki is here! ☆
Please keep quiet, Taichou. Anzu-Anego is sorting out the situation by asking everyone for their part of the story right now.
Please don’t get in her way by causing a ruckus.
The one we called for help was Anzu-Anego when it comes down to it… You’re somethin’ like an extra here, so I’d like it if you stepped back a bit.
M-Mm. Nagumo’s attitude towards me just gets drier and drier, huh…
In that case, I leave this all to you, Anzu. We’ve got our own side of things to prepare, mainly for the Eve’s Eve Live.
Taichou-dono~ What exactly is this “Eve’s Eve Live”? The name has an oddly nice ring to it~…?3
Mm. It’s a job; we’ll be performing a live show on a stage set up in this park.
It seems that some of our unitmates are likely to behave irresponsibly when left to their own devices, so… I asked Anzu if there’s any suitable work we could take on.
Anzu actually appears to be on break, too… But she still went around all over the place and searched for a job suitable for Ryuseitai.
That’s when she found this one. They were just about to consider canceling the live show because another unit, who’d been scheduled to perform in the live, announced that they would not be able to participate, after all…
It turns out, that unit has a member who caught a cold.4
So we’re acting as their substitutes. You guys should maintain good care of your health too, alright?
Anyway, that job is known as the “Eve’s Eve Live”.
It’s apparently a live show intended to celebrate the upcoming StarFes, as well as advertise for it.1
The goal is to attract an audience and promote StarFes.
Hmm~ So it’s like an opening act for StarFes? By the way, are we Ryuseitai not participating in StarFes itself?
Ah, no, all units are meant to perform there. So of course, that means we’ll also participate.
But the main performers will be a different unit, and for the most part, we plan to put on our usual performance there.
That being said, the Eve’s Eve Live will act as a good rehearsal for that, won’t it?
Our schedule was getting jam-packed with things to do as of late, though…
So if it were possible, I wanted to give you all a proper break, but… Well, I’m sure it’ll be alright. We’re all still young, after all! ♪
But today was actually meant to be a day off from Ryuseitai activities, specifically… so you don’t have to force yourselves to join the live show, okay?
Ahh, then I’d like to skip out on this… It’s cold anyway, I wanna go home and sleep…
C’mon, don’t say that! You’ll join us too, Midori-kun. The five of us together are Ryuseitai! We’ve even got just the right outfits for this, too~♪
Ooh, what’re those costumes? Eve’s Eve Live was a sudden job, so I didn’t really have the time to prepare everything.
I was actually planning to perform with our usual Ryuseitai uniforms, but this might change things…?
Heh-heh. Y’see, Taisho made some outfits for Hinata-kun. Except, he made waaay too many after getting a li’l too into it, apparently…
Do you think we could use these outfits for the performance?
Hm, they’re Santa outfits, perfect for the occasion! If we ask Anzu to tailor it to our sizes, it should be usable! Wonderful work, Nagumo! ♪
It’s actually all thanks to Taisho. I didn’t really do anything. There’s a variety of colors and sizes here, so I think there should be an outfit that each of us can wear~?
Chapter 4
Here you go, Midori-kun; the green-colored outfit’s for you…♪
Uuu, so I’m also gonna participate in the end…? I’m not a fan of the green-colored Santa-san costume, since it kinda makes him seem like he’s an impostor…?
how [colorful]~ it looks like a [coral reef]. mine will be~ blue…♪
Ah—Shinkai-senpai, you were sleeping this whole time, but you’re awake now, huh…?
Are you doing alright, health-wise…? If you’re not feeling it, how about we go home together…?
ufufu. i do not want to be the only one [left out]~ let’s work hard at this job… okay, midori? ♪
the five of us together are Ryuseitai, you know…♪
chiaki~ chiaki will be [red] as always, right? here you go~…♪
…………
what is wrong, chiaki? you do not seem energetic…?
did you catch my [cold]…?
Ah, no… Nagumo, would you like to wear the outfit for Red this time?
Huh? Where’d this come from…? I’m Ryusei Black, aren’t I?
There’s a black Santa outfit here, so I’ll be wearing this one, yeah~?
No, it’s just that I thought it’d be a good opportunity for you. After all, you seem to admire Kiryu—…admire Akatsuki. Plus, you’d much prefer the color red over black, right?
And yet, you’ve constantly had a color that barely satisfies your wishes pushed onto you. I’m sorry, I also had my reasons why I couldn’t just give up Red, but…
I’ve had you bear with it all this time, and I apologize for that.
Mm~… Well, yeah, I couldn’t stand a single bit of it at first. Every time I put on the black outfit, I felt so pathetic and frustrated with myself.
But the black spots on the sun are where the temperature is lower. And that’s what I am.
I’m still inexperienced, and I was lacking in lots of different areas. That’s why I couldn’t get into Akatsuki—That’s all there is to it.
So that one day I can burst into red flames… I’m currently getting a share of everyone’s coal and heat.
I’m still a greenhorn who can’t yet reach Taichou’s level, let alone Taisho’s.
And when the day comes that I wear the red outfit… I don’t want it to be just ‘cuz “the opportunity for it has come”; I wanna wear it once I personally feel satisfied and ready for it.
So, is it alright if we put this talk off ‘til next year?
I’ll be sure to grow strong by the day you graduate and leave, Taichou.
As for Santa-san, he always comes dressed in the color red.
And Red, the leading actor… is definitely you, Taichou. I appreciate how you feel, but I’m just not capable enough yet.
Right now, Ryusei Black suits me just right. I’ll gladly wear this outfit.
So you don’t have to be considerate over stuff that nobody asked for, y’know~? It doesn’t suit you at all to be like that, anyway.
Ah, I see… You’ve really grown, Nagumo. May I hug you?
No, I don’t want it. What’s with you today? You’re kinda acting gross. You sure you didn’t catch a cold?
Ah, no, sorry… Thank you, Nagumo—For growing up to be so big and strong.5
Aaalrighty then, I’ll wear the red outfit with much gratitude!
I’ll sing with all my might today, as Santa-san! For the sake of bringing dreams to all the kids out there! Fuhahaha…! ☆
……♪
Shinkai-senpai, your face is red… If you’re still not feeling well, please make sure to rest, okay…?
no, i am [alright]. i feel [nice] and [warm] somehow~…♪
o holy night… the stars are brightly shining… twinkle, twinkle~♪6
Translation Notes
- ↑ StarFes is a Yumenosaki Academy DreamFes that happens on Christmas, while SS is a huge-scaled event that happens at the end of the year, with units representing their respective school/agency participating. Trickstar acts as the Yumenosaki Academy’s representative in SS.
- ↑ Takoyaki (lit. fried octopus) are ball-shaped and cooked in molded pans, and typically are filled with minced octopus and other ingredients. They’re typically served in plates of 4-8, so they’re very splittable.
- ↑ In Japanese, the name is ibu-ibu-raibu, each word ending with bu, hence Shinobu’s comment on it.
- ↑ This is referring to Valkyrie. You can learn more about this in Star Festival, Holy Knights 2 and 3. Please check this masterlist for a translation.
- ↑ Chiaki says something similar to Tetora a year later, in Motor Show, Epilogue 3.
- ↑ He’s singing the lyrics from kiyoshi kono yoru, also known as Silent Night.