Paradox Live Stage Battle "FAMILY" - Part 2
Reo: So you woke up this morning and he was gone? Aren't you overreacting?Hokusai: It's still only afternoon...
Satsuki: Are you sure he just didn't run to a convenience store or somethin'? And maybe popped by an arcade while he was at i--
Kanata: The fuck!?
Satsuki: Hey! What're you gettin' pissed off for!?
Nayuta: Nayuta wouldn't do something like that! He's never gone out without telling me where he's going...! And I can't get a hold of him...
Satsuki, Reo, and Hokusai: ...
Iori: ... y'got any idea... as to why he might have up and disappeared?
Zen: ... Waka...
Kanata: ... we had a fight last night...
Satsuki: The hell? Just a fight?
Reo: Aah, so you think maybe because of that he didn't want to face you? I get that. You guys are brothers, after all.
Hokusai: Really?
Kanata: [audibly winces]
Zen: What did you argue about? If you're alright with sharing, could you please tell us?
Kanata: He told me... I needed to go out more. To meet more people. He said that would make me stronger.
Zen: I see.
Kanata: But I don't need anything like that... I only need Nayuta. But he...
Iori: Don't seem to me like that's the whole story.
Kanata: ...!
Iori: If you're comin' to ask me for help, to the point you're even bowin' your head to me -- which is a first for you... there's gotta be another reason, ain't there?
Kanata: ... a while ago... right around the time we got the invitation to the Paradox Live, we got jumped in town. Three thugs, trying to take our phantometals.
Akan Yatsura: ...
Kanata: They tried to put a hand on Nayuta... so I flipped out and kicked their asses.
Satsuki: For real!? You're thin, but you're stronger than you look, ain't you?
Reo: Shut up, monkey-boy!
Hokusai: Kanata. What happened after that?
Kanata: ... they probably remember my face because of that. If they found Nayuta on his own, then...!
Reo: You guys look identical, so if they mistook him for you, it wouldn't be pretty...
Hokusai: Dangerous...
Zen: So that's how it is. That's why you came here.
Kanata: I know that I have no right to rely on you for something like this, but I...
Iori: 'Ight, well! We ought to help each other out in times of need, yeah? Everyone on board?
Satsuki: Yeah!
Reo: Guess we gotta, right~? We'll help.
Hokusai: We'll find Nayuta. I'm really good at finding lost kitties.
Zen: Then let's split up the work. Waka and I will stay on standby here. We'll keep our ears out for information. The rest of you can go out and search around town.
Iori: Ooh, look at you, all in command, Zen~! Y'look just like one of those police detective from a television drama!
Zen: Please don't make fun of me.
Iori: Gotcha. Sorry.
Zen: [clears throat] At any rate, the search team should split into two groups. Divvy up the area and keep in contact was needed.
Reo: Got it! Then I'll take Hokusai~
Hokusai: Understood.
Satsuki: So Kanata, you're with me.
Kanata: R... right...
Satsuki: No need to worry! I'm the great Gaia-sama, able to silence even crying children! Hell, we might find you two brothers instead of just the one we're lookin' for!
Kanata: ... r...ight...
Zen: If anything happens, get in touch with us and stand by for reinforcements to arrive. Don't push yourselves.
Reo: Roger!
Iori: 'Ight. Give it all you got!
Reo, Hokusai, Satsuki, and Zen: Yeah!
*
[sfx: footsteps]
Reo: I'm tiiired! Aw, come on... we've been walking around all day, my legs feel like lead!
Satsuki: You really gotta work on your stamina.
Reo: Hmph. ... and to top it off, Hokusai kept trying to talk to cats...
Hokusai: If only I could speak kitty...
Reo: Kanata. How are you guys holding up?
Kanata: Nothing... we couldn't find any trace of him after he left the apartment...
[sfx: phone buzzing, beep]
Hokusai: Mm. Mm. ... got it.
[sfx: beep]
Hokusai: That was Zen... he says they haven't gotten any leads.
Reo: Aaah, for real? Zen-nii may be an ex-police detective, but he's no help at all!
Satsuki: Don't you diss Zen-nii!
Hokusai: This area is out of aniki's turf, so...
Satsuki: But even so, it feels like we shouldn't be gettin' absolutely nothing with as much as we're looking, right?
Reo: [sigh] So what do we do now?
Satsuki: We've got no choice but to keep looking, right?
Hokusai: Mm.
[sfx: passing train in the distance]
Kanata: ... we're done.
Satsuki: Huh?
Kanata: We're done. I'll just look by myself from here.
Reo: Hah? The hell are you saying?
Kanata: I said I'll look for him by myself. You guys don't have to help any more. Sorry... for dragging you into this.
Satsuki: You...!
[sfx: Satsuki grabbing Kanata by the shirt]
Satsuki: Don't make light of our honor!!
Kanata: ...!?
Satsuki: You bastard, you said Nayuta was your family, right!? Aniki acknowledged that. He agreed to help you. Just because we couldn't find him after lookin' for a little while doesn't mean we're about to shrug our shoulders and give up and run away with our tails between our legs!
Reo: He's your one and only precious little brother, isn't he?
Hokusai: ... so we'll definitely find.
Kanata: .. but--
Satsuki: I ain't got fuckin' time for "but"! You've been searchin' for him so desperately that you've been looking like you're gonna die if we didn't find him, haven't you? You already came this far, don't fuckin' act tough now!
Reo: He's right! Times like these you ought to just swallow your pride and accept our help! Right, Hokusai?
Hokusai: Mm. That's right. It's okay to let us help.
Kanata: ...
Reo: Hey. When you came knocking, you said you'd investigated the Suiseki, right?
Kanata: Yeah...
Reo: Then you know about the raid, don't you?
Kanata: The broad strokes of it, yeah. I heard that the group got completely wiped out overnight by some kind of attack.
Reo: ... probably would'a died.
Kanata: Huh?
Reo: Me. Satsuki and Hokusai, too. When it happened, if our timing had been just one second off, all three of us would have died.
Kanata: ...
Reo: A dark sea of blood... everybody was dead. I couldn't save a single person. Not the old man. Not my comrades. ... so I swore, then and there, I won't ever lose my comrades-- my family -- ever again.
Kanata: ...
Satsuki: We're family.
Kanata: "Family"...
Satsuki: Yeah. From the outside, we may just look like a bunch of rowdy thugs, but to us... we're family. You know, I've always been like this. Ever since I was little. Even back then, I was super quick to get in fights, and I couldn't study for shit. My parents and my teachers all gave up on me. I could hardly even go to elementary school properly.
Reo: Heheh. That's our boy, Satsuki-chan, elementary school graduate!
Satsuki: Shut up. ... I was so goddamn angry every single day. If I threw a punch at people, they'd be scared of me. I took solace in that. I told myself I'd rise up using my fists. ... that's when aniki took me in. I had been abandoned by my parents because they thought I was uncontrollable, but Aniki and our comrades taught me everything. How to use chopsticks, how to eat fish, proper greetings, proper manners, and the right way to fight... they were patient. They taught me again and again until it all stuck. They never gave up on me. That's why I know they're my family. I don't care what anyone else says. But thinking, "even if someone is hopeless, I'll never turn my back on them" -- that's what family means.
Kanata: ...
Reo: Same with me. I chose my own family. My blood family is... how should I put this...? It's broken up. I haven't seen any of them for years. And I don't really want to. ... I don't hate them or anything. My dad taught me to love hip hop, and my mom... well, I got this super-cute face from her, you know?
Satsuki: You're really gonna say that about yourself?
Reo: But... my blood family... they all put themselves first. My dad got into a lot of debt that he couldn't pay back, and that was a whole mess. And my family just fell apart. ... haha. Isn't that lame?
Hokusai: Reo...
Reo: ... [shudder]
Hokusai: There, there...
Reo: Heheh... Hokusai, you're so nice. Unlike a certain asshole monkey.
Satsuki: Who'd want to pat your head anyway!? Fuckin' gross!
Reo: Hehe.
Hokusai: Me, too. My father... is in prison. Probably never going to see him outside of prison again. For life.
Kanata: ... huh?
Hokusai: I'm the son of a criminal. When people found out, they abandoned me. Only animals ever looked at me without judgment. They stayed with me. ... but. Aniki and the others were different. They treat me like Masaki Hokusai. They don't see my father when they look at me. They told me to hold my head high when we walked together. They don't think of me as shameful. Because we're family.
Kanata: Family...
Satsuki: Yeah. Even if we're not related by blood.
Reo: We kind of didn't have a choice but to choose our own families. But... Kanata, you've always had Nayuta, right?
Hokusai: You have to protect your precious family.
Satsuki: Yeah! Don't look down on this elementary school graduate!
Reo: Wah, how impressive~!
Hokusai: Heheh...
Satsuki: Not you, too, Hokusai...!
Nayuta: ... Kanata?
Kanata: --! Nayuta!!
Nayuta: What on earth are you doing here?
Kanata: The hell do you mean, what am I--?
Satsuki: More importantly, the hell'd you come from all of a sudden!?
Nayuta: Hah? Kanata... aren't these guys from Akan Yatsura...? Why are you with them?
Kanata: You dumbass!! We were trying to find you!
Nayuta: Eh? "Find"?
Kanata: Where have you been!?
Nayuta: Where have I... uh... I was trying to think up lyrics, so I took a walk... and then I got lost... and then I was tired... so I took a nap somewhere or another... and then... where'd I go after that...?
Satsuki: Are you some kind of stray cat!?
Hokusai: ... I really need to learn to speak kitty.
Nayuta: What? ... and what's the matter? Kanata, you're making a really scary face.
Kanata: Stop fucking with me! Do you have any idea how worried I was!?
Nayuta: Huh?
Kanata: Saying "you need to go out by yourself" and then vanishing...!
Nayuta: Huh? What?
Reo: Kanata was worried that you might have gotten jumped by some thugs.
Satsuki: He even came and bowed his head to us.
Hokusai: And frantically looked all over for you.
Nayuta: ... for real...?
Kanata: Yeah...
Nayuta: For real... but...
Kanata: Vanishing without a word like that... I can't believe you...
Nayuta: Kanata...
Kanata: I don't have anyone but you, Nayuta. You're my only family. So... so please don't ever disappear without saying anything... don't ever...
Nayuta: Kanata... it's alright. I'm with you. Always. No matter what, I'll always be right here with you.
*
[sfx: footsteps]
Kanata: ... 'm'sorry. I made you guys run around for me all day and then you guys even treated us to food.
Reo: No worries. After all, Zen-nii's the one footing the bill!
Satsuki: Raimentei is great, isn't it!? For real, though. I'd have thought that cozmez were right bastards with arrogant music and shitty attitudes, but we actually get along, huh?
Hokusai: Heheh. Then... this is where we part ways.
Reo: We're rivals from here on out, got it?
Satsuki: Don't go gettin' into fights!
Kanata: U-uh. Wait.
Reo: What's up?
Kanata: If... if you were being lied to by Suis-- ... I mean... by your family, what would you do?
Reo: Lied to?
Kanata: Yeah. If an important secret were being kept from you.
Satsuki: Hah? ... who'd care about that? [laugh] Even being family doesn't mean you can't have one or two secrets you're not spilling.
Reo: Like, for instance, the place where Satsuki-chan hides all of his favorite sexy magazines~!
Satsuki: HAH!?
Reo: Which, by the way, is obviously underneath the floor in the closet.
Satsuki: You RAT BASTA--
Kanata: That's not what I mean! I mean... something that could involve your lives.
Satsuki, Reo, and Hokusai: ...
Hokusai: ... even if it were that... no. Even if it is that, I'll still put my faith in them.
Kanata: Faith?
Hokusai: Yeah. If that's what it is, it's being kept secret to protect us. A lie meant to protect your family... I'm not going to second guess that.
Kanata: ...!
Satsuki: Yeah! That's right! If I had to put my life on the line for aniki, I'd be happy to do it.
Reo: I'm the same. When I decided to follow aniki, I had already made my mind up, after all.
Satsuki: Right? Don't make light of our honor!
Hokusai: Mm.
Reo: Well, with that said...
Satsuki: Later! Next time we see you, it's gonna be on stage!
Hokusai: We won't lose.
Reo: Prepare yourselves~!
[sfx: footsteps]
Kanata: ... ah.
Nayuta: Mm? Something wrong, Kanata?
Kanata: ... I didn't have the chance to thank them.
Nayuta: ... [giggle]
Kanata: What?
Nayuta: You made friends.
Kanata: Hah?
Nayuta: If you have people other than me who you want to say "thank you" to, then that means they're friends.
Kanata: It's not like...
Nayuta: Kanata. You can change, I think. You can get way, way stronger than you are now.
Kanata: I already said that--
Nayuta: I'm with you. And "if the two of us are together, then we're the strongest", right?
Kanata: ... yeah. If the two of us are together, then we're the strongest.
*
Iori: ... that so? Good job on managin' to find him. Yep. Good work.
[sfx: phone beep]
Zen: Did they manage to find Nayuta-kun?
Iori: Yep.
Zen: All we can do is keep an eye on them... it's frustrating, isn't it?
Iori: Sure is. But cozmez are a real strong opponent. Can't let this make us put our guards down for the performance.
Zen: Of course! I'll be going all out! I have no intention of losing!
Iori: 'Ight! Bein' all spirited and flashy is real well-suited to Akan Yatsura!