Naked – Change and Universality
Chapter Index
Ch 1 - Ch 2 - Ch 3 - Ch 4 - Ch 5 - Translation Notes
Chapter 1
Season: ES 2nd Year, Summer (September)
Same day, in the evening. In a karaoke room…
This one’s our room!
Phew, I’m drenched in sweat after walking all the way here… I shall turn the temperature down a little.
We walked a pretty long distance, yeah… I get why we chose a place far from school, since we could get spotted by other students if it was somewhere nearby—
But why are we holding our wrap-up party in a karaoke room? I’m already tired as it is from the live show…
Karaoke is held in a private room, that’s why! We won’t have to worry about people’s eyes on us here, and we’ll be able to relax all we want, right?
That’s the only reason we chose this place, so you don’t have to force yourself to sing. If you’re tired, you’re free to lie down on the sofa.
fufu, i will personally be singing, though~
let’s have the first song be a [ryuseitai medley]~♪
On it! Tap, tap, tap… Send! ☆
You know the song’s digit number? Wow, you memorized that?
Mfun, I often sing karaoke with my friends!1 I also have the line distribution down to a T!
Huh, really… I’d personally never sing in karaoke.1 I’m already singing so much for work, so I’d rather be free from it on my days off at least.
No, actually, before that— I’ve never even had friends that I can go to karaoke with in my private time.
OOOHH…! Don’t say something so lonely, Takamine! If you don’t mind me, I’ll go out with you anytime!
After karaoke, let’s go to a batting cage! We’ll sweat our hearts out, and then have dinner at a casual restaurant!
Absolutely no way we will… Please don’t come invading my private life.
I’d much rather spend my time alone. I won’t have to overthink how to be mindful of whoever is with me, and I can go about doing things at my own pace.
Midori-kun, Midori-kun! Which do you prefer, waffle fries or hash browns?
Huh—? Where’d this come from all of a sudden…?
I’m askin’ about the menu! I’m starvin’ like crazy, so I’ve been ordering every little thing I wanna eat, but I can’t decide on which fried potatoes to get.
Ahh… I was wondering why you had such a serious look on your face while fidgeting with the tablet, but you were just ordering food all along, huh.
If you’re that unsure, how about going for a fried potato combo platter?
It has a bunch of variety in it, and we should be able to finish the plate if we split it between the five of us.
I never expected that as a suggestion…! That’s Takamine for you; you truly get my favorite food…☆
I love fried potatoes, but I can’t order a lot of them when I’m alone.
That’s why — the idea of a combo platter is absolutely superb, because we’ll be able to taste and compare the different dishes! Of course, I’ll help out in clearing the platter!
It’s scary how he just started blabbering out of nowhere. I wasn’t even talking about your favorite food, Senpai…
Aighty! I’mma go with the “fried potato combo platter” then!
I’ll also order pizza, pasta, rice pilaf… Ah! I shouldn’t forget to order the takoyaki!
Ehhh… Aren’t you ordering way too much?
Not to worry. This karaoke parlor has a take-away option for any food you cannot finish in time.
Ooh, that’s so kind of ‘em! Aight then, I’mma just keep addin’ more! ☆
…None of you plan ahead in any capacity. Just hand me the menu already, I’ll make the order.
One hour later…
Right. I’m sorry to interrupt you all while you’re having your own fun, but it’s about time we start our strategy meeting.
ohh, yes. we said that alongside the [wrap-up party], we would talk about what we will do as ryuseitai from now on, right?
Yeah. Although, our overall approach will remain the same. So in this meeting, I’d like to come up with a concrete plan for what we’ll do next.
We’ve just finished performing a live show in Yumenosaki, the academy that was our “starting point”, so to speak—
But thinking back on it, we haven’t actually done anything particular for our fans ever since Mega Stream ended.
That’s why for starters, I’d like to carry out a Ryuseitai exclusive live show, aimed at our fans. And if we’ll be going with that—
Then I was hoping we could perform an entirely new song for them too, but what do you all think?
Hm, hm. So it won’t be a collaboration with a company or anythin’, it’s just purely a new song made for us?2
Yeah. Of course, we’d be more than willing to collaborate if a company sends us a word, but—
We don’t have to push ourselves to find one, either. Making our fans happy is always the most important thing, after all!
And so, for the commander of this exclusive live, hmm…3
—Sengoku, could I ask you to take the lead?
…Bfhff!? Dihd yo’fhsay me!?4
I dihn’t eshpeht t’be nominahted…5 (Gulps down his food). I was so surprised that I almost spit out my takoyaki!
Fuhahaha, that was a close one!
But I’m being serious, Sengoku. You were absolutely glimmering onstage today.
Without ever averting your eyes from your juniors’ worries, you did your best to encourage them all head-on. Seeing that performance of yours resonated in my heart, too.
What’s more, you looked even livelier than usual in our performance.
That’s exactly why I’ve become so interested to discover what you could show us right now if you became the next commander!
Ahaha… You’ll make me blush saying that. I simply just put into words everything I had wanted to say, you know?
But because you all followed my plan, today’s live show ended in a massive success.
Thus, to also express my thanks to everyone, I shall gladly take on the role of the commander!6
On that note, what sort of song would be good here?
That being said, you’re the commander this time, Sengoku. You’re free to decide however you like!
how about a [ninja] song that is fitting for shinobu? nin-nin…♪
Ahaha, that would be far too drenched in my color, you know. And besides, we already have “Nekketsu ☆ Ryusei Ninpouchou” as a song~9
ahh, that is right. that song was made for the sake of the [ninja association], right?10
…though, it seems that same [ninja association] is gone now.11
Translation Notes
- ↑ You can see Ryuseitai’s preferences in karaoke in the Oshi Room (Questions > Karaoke question). There’s also a karaoke chart.
- ↑ Most of Ryuseitai’s events up until now have had to do with working with a company or event, such as Tropical (with Tropical Troppeys), or WILDLAND (for Wildland event) etc.
- ↑ “Commander” (taichou in Japanese) refers to the leader.
- ↑ “Did you say me?”
- ↑ “I didn’t expect to be nominated”
- ↑ This isn’t Shinobu’s first time being the leader; his first time was before Stella Maris (all the juniors had a chance to be a leader before Kanata’s first time). But this is the first event to showcase his leader turn!
- ↑ The ground typically refers to activities in ES, or activities that aren’t on Mega Sphere (which is in the sky).
- ↑ As a fun note, Ryuseitai has had an event with fine before that uses similar wording; “The Emperor’s Triumphant Return”.
- ↑ Referring to Shinobu’s first center song, Zealous☆Meteor Ninja Art Scroll!
- ↑ The story associated with the song, Ninja Clan, was about finding a way to recruit new members to the association to avoid its dissolution.
- ↑ This was first revealed in the first chapter of Flower of Worship, but this is the first time it’s mentioned in a Shinobu story.