Type: Novel Translation
Title: Back Stage!!
Series: Love Stage!!
Author/Circle: Eiki Eiki, Amano Kazuki
Rating: PG
Language: English
Notes: In light of the upcoming anime in July, we’ll be working hard to get the rest of Volume 1 out over the next few months, so please tune in! I (fencer_x) will be taking over the translation from our hard-working scanner amyused, who’d been handling it thus far. Hope you enjoy!
This time: Rei transitions to life in the Sena household and meets little Izumi for the first time. But things are about to get rather awkward…
Feel free to check out the book in-progress on Pressbooks!
Chapter 2 (cont.)
The house was a grand three-story building, and likely out of consideration for ensuring its occupants’ privacy, it was difficult to tell from the outside what was going on within. However, along with the usual collection of windows along the crisp white outer walls, thin skylights could also be seen, making it easy to imagine the bright sunlight streaming inside.
“Welcome home; this is where you’ll be living from now on,” Seiya said, opening the door to the side of the garage—which to Rei seemed more like a gate leading to a whole new world, and with some trepidation, he followed Seiya into the inner entryway.
Truthfully, it still hadn’t quite sunk in yet—which was to be expected; after all, it had barely been three days since he’d first met Seiya and been invited to be his assistant. But in that short span of time, the environment around Rei had shifted dramatically, exposing Rei to probably the most shocking changes he’d experienced since slipping from his mother’s womb. That’s how sudden and massive a change this was.
The time that had stalled with his mother’s passing seemed to have suddenly started flowing again at great speed, and Seiya carried out all of the necessities using staff members from his own, self-run agency, SenaPro. He’d taken care of canceling the contract for the apartment Rei had been living in, transferring his ID card information, even his mother’s burial arrangements… More than anything, Rei had been so glad to be able to hold a proper memorial service for his mother at last. Because he hadn’t had any savings, he hadn’t been able to bury her, after all, even after the mandated 49 days had passed.
And then, on top of everything, he’d come to welcome Rei…
“This is the living room—come inside.” Seiya welcomed him in with a warm smile, and every time Rei met that expression, something warm and light blossomed within his chest.
’Starting from today…I’m going to be living my life in time with his…’ Such thoughts just bubbled up unbidden.
He still couldn’t manage to see himself as pure-hearted a person as Seiya had claimed that night in the dressing room, but he had vowed to change his life for Seiya’s sake, at the very least. He would pour himself fully into living for Seiya, this he promised.
Until—
“Don’t tell my you’ve actually taken in a stray human this time!” A bracing but sweet voice cut through the air, and Rei whirled around in the speaker’s direction—where he was met with a woman of unparalleled beauty. It was immediately clear that this woman was the great actress—and Seiya’s wife—Sena Nagisa.
Seiya had said he’d already spoken with his family and gotten their permission, assuring Rei that Nagisa would welcome him with open arms, but given this remark just now, she certainly didn’t seem all that happy that a stranger was barging into her home.
However, it still somehow seemed…completely normal. In fact, Seiya was the strange one here, inviting a person he’d just met to come live and work with him. Rei steeled himself, understanding this to be only the first of many hurdles he’d likely be met with.
“Now, now. Rei-kun, this is my wife, Nagisa.” He spoke in a soothing manner, and Rei dipped his head into a polite bow. Even if he couldn’t earn Nagisa’s favor right off the bat, if he worked hard and honestly, he was sure he’d eventually be able to.
Or at least—that’s what he’d thought.
“I’m Sagara Rei. I hope we can—UWAH!” He cut off his introduction as Nagisa slipped in close, her face right in front of his, and stepped back from her with a startled cry.
“Hmmmm…” She looked him over, as if evaluating a piece of merchandise she was strongly considering purchasing.
Rei felt the urge to flee well up inside but knew it wouldn’t do for him to look away just now and met Nagisa’s gaze head-on, taking care to ensure it didn’t look like he was glaring at her.
And then, after a long moment, Nagisa’s expression broke into an excited grin. “Marvelous! He’s absolutely gorgeous! Yes yes, he’ll do quite nicely! Oh, every day is just going to be grand, now!”
“………I’m sorry?” Rei gaped at Nagisa, who had her hands clasped before her.
’…Gorgeous? Grand?’
“Right? I knew you’d like him!”
“Oh you know me so well, Dear!”
Rei stood there in silent confusion, glancing back and forth in shock between the grinning couple. He was certainly glad that Nagisa seemed eager to welcome him into their home now, yes, but…just…
’Are…all celebrities like this…? Seiya’s suggestion that I be his assistant came out the blue as well, so maybe…’
They just seemed so flighty, or to at least have a very different set of values from Rei, and while this attitude was much better than finding them cruel-hearted, when Rei realized that he’d be working with people like this every day from now on…a whisper of worry began to bubble up.
“Ooh, but don’t you think he might be more useful headlining for the agency?”
“True enough—how about it, Rei-kun?”
“Eh?” Rei’s head tilted in confusion, not really grasping what was being asked.
“I’d initially thought about hiring you as an assistant—but perhaps you might like to be one of our agency’s stars, instead?”
“I—wha—?!”
A star? Rei hesitated, never having expected to be offered such an opportunity, and quickly shook his head. “A—a star, that’s just—out of the question! Please let me be your assistant!”
“You heard the man.”
“Eeh…? Aww, boo. Although—it certainly will be nice to come home after a long day of work and find a pretty face waiting for me!” Nagisa’s lips had pursed into a disappointed frown for a moment, before quickly breaking into a grin as she found the silver lining to the matter. Rei, though, had no idea of how to respond to the concept of ‘being nice’ just by being there—and as he offered a nervous smile in return, a clatter from behind their group caught his attention.
He turned in place—and found a small child, perhaps in his early years of elementary school, peeking out from around a corner.
“Oh, there you are, Izumi! Come over here, I’ll introduce you.” Seiya held out a hand, noticing the boy, who finally came toddling out. “This is Sagara Rei-kun; he’ll be living with us starting today. Rei-kun, this is my son, Izumi.”
Rei felt a silent thrill of surprise rush through him. The child was so adorable, Rei had been certain he’d been Seiya’s daughter, not his son. As to be expected of the offspring of Seiya and Nagisa! He was a beautiful child, with doll-like features. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Izumi-san.” He held out his hand in welcome to the Izumi, who continued to fidget while slowly drawing near.
After a few moments raking his curious gaze over Rei, he flushed deeply and silently extended a hand to Rei.
’He’s a really shy little kid…’ Careful not to startle, Rei gently gripped the hand, finding it a bit sweaty with the high body heat of a child.
“Izumi’s 8 years old, a third-year in elementary school. His older brother’s studying abroad at the moment, so he’s a little lonely. I hope you won’t mind keeping him company?”
“Not at all, I’d love to.” He nodded to demonstrate his understanding of Seiya’s request. He’d never played with children before, so truthfully, he was a bit concerned on that end, but he could hardly confess as such. For the time being, he’d just borrow a few books on rearing children from the library—after all, he’d vowed to give his everything for Seiya…
And so, his life in the Sena household began.
“Hey, Rei?”
Rei glanced up from the text he’d been perusing at Izumi’s voice. It was a Saturday afternoon, and Izumi had been scribbling at the table in the living room, enjoying his day off from school, while Rei watched over him and did a bit of studying.
It had already been two months since he’d started living with the Senas, and Izumi had taken to Rei so keenly that it made his initial fidgety shyness seem like a farce, spending most of his days off now with Rei.
The Senas had a housemaid who dropped by every day, taking care of the cooking and cleaning and washing, and the office side of the house had proper staff taking care of the business there, so Rei had few responsibilities. Nagisa had her own manager, and Seiya was largely involved in producing these days, so he spent most of his time in the recording studio of the house’s basement, putting together songs.
Rei’s responsibilities therefore largely involved manning the phones when the office staff were out and occasionally accompanying Seiya when he went on errands and getting his license from driving school. And, of course, watching Izumi.
“Lookie, lookie!!” He held up his drawing for Rei to see.
Rei didn’t think himself possessed of any particular talent for the arts…but he never could seem to grasp what it was Izumi had drawn. It wasn’t that it was too abstract for him, it was more…well, it was rude to think of this given that Izumi seemed to enjoy drawing so much—but it looked like something he’d drawn with his non-dominant hand, a really truly awful drawing.
But there was no way he would ever say as such. “It’s magnificent; I particularly like the colors.” He tried to decipher what the boy had drawn—probably not an animal, so a person? He chuckled softly at the thought, and Izumi returned to his sketching in high spirits from the praise.
Rei turned back to the accounting text he had in his hands and dropped his eyes to the page, determined to drill into his mind something that might help him prove useful to Seiya. It was that thought that drove him to fill his free time with studies.
He couldn’t help but think that he was just taking advantage of Seiya’s good graces right now. But if he put his nose to the grindstone and studied hard and got his license, then he would one day be able to do something for Seiya.
“Studying, are we?”
Rei glanced up in surprise when a voice called out to him. “…Ah, Seiya-san. Are you on break?”
“Oh—not quite, I just had something to give you.” Rei stood to put on some tea or coffee for the man, but Seiya held out a hand to stop him.
“…For me?” He cocked his head slightly in confusion.
“Yup. Here you are.” He held out a large envelope.
“This is…”
“A pamphlet—for a correspondence college.”
“Eh—?!” College? Rei’s eyes goggled—and he noticed now the seal of a university printed on the envelope. But…why would Seiya give him something like this…?
“I’ve seen how eager you are with your studies, so I thought maybe this way you’d be able to work and go to school at the same time…?” Seiya offered to Rei, who stood stiff with shock, unable to take it all in.
He had a point; with correspondence courses, he could probably get in a decent education while still working as he was now. After all, he already had a book open in his lap this very moment while he was watching Izumi.
“B—but, the tuition…”
“Well naturally, I’ll have you work it off!” he responded with a bright smile.
“……!!” Rei felt tears well up within, so happy was he. ’This man gives me anything and everything I could possibly desire… He really is like an angel…’ Even telling Rei he’d have to work off the tuition had made him happy. He probably understood that if he’d offered to fund Rei’s education for free, Rei would have flat-out refused. And indeed, Rei was sure that if Seiya had said that, he would have felt he had no right to receive such charity.
If Rei had had a father…maybe this is what it would have felt like. He could only imagine, but if he’d had someone like Seiya for a father, he was sure he would have been happy.
“I’ll study as best I can!”
“Excellent! But don’t overwork yourself, okay?”
“Of course!” As he nodded emphatically, Seiya favored him with another brilliant smile.
“Hey hey~” Izumi tugged on Rei’s sleeve, having slipped down from his chair while Rei had been overwhelmed with gratitude. Perhaps he’d been a bit lonely at being abandoned.
“What’s the matter, Izumi-san?” Rei squatted slightly to peer into Izumi’s face—something he’d read about in a book on raising children, back when he’d first arrived. Seeing as he hadn’t known the first thing about looking after children, he’d thought it best to do a bit of light reading on the subject. Izumi had turned out to be quite a bit more introverted than most children, so there were times when he slipped up in trying to force Izumi outside as advised in the books, but given how taken Izumi was with him, he figured he must be doing something right.
“What’s a college?”
“It’s a type of school.”
“School…? Are you goin’ to school, Rei?”
His expression darkened with worry, and Seiya gently patted him on the head. “No, he’s not going anywhere. This house is going to be Rei’s school.”
At this, Izumi turned his gaze to his father. “The house? Then he’s gonna stay here all the time?”
“Indeed.” He gave a smiling nod in response to Izumi’s question, and Izumi instantly brightened into a wide grin.
“Thank goodness!”
Seeing their interaction Rei recalled here that Izumi’s older brother was currently studying abroad; perhaps Izumi had feared that Rei would leave like his brother had.
“You must really love Rei, Izumi.”
“Yup!” Izumi gave a smart nod, and Seiya reached out and patted him again on the head, glancing over at Rei.
“…Thank you, Rei.”
“…Huh?” Rei’s eyes widened in shock at the unexpected offer of gratitude. It was one thing for him to thank Seiya—but he could think of nothing he’d done himself to merit the opposite.
At Rei’s confusion, Seiya smiled gently. “For keeping Izumi company.”
“Eh? But that’s just part of—I mean, it’s only natural.” He’d been about to say it was merely part of the job, but then wondered if it was right to say such a thing in front of Izumi.
“Yeah. Thanks, though.” And saying this, he reached forward and casually patted Rei on the head as well—and while it was the same thing he’d done to Izumi only moments before, Rei felt a shudder ripple through him as his cheeks flushed with heat. Perhaps because he could never recall having his head rubbed before?
Rather than feeling irritated at being treated like a child…he more immediately felt pride and joy at being praised.
“Well then, I suppose I’ll get back to work now.”
“O—of course, please don’t push yourself too hard!” He stood with Izumi and watched Seiya leave the living room before turning his gaze once more to the envelope still sitting on the table. “…All right then…!” And with a rising urge to study even harder now, he formed a fist with his right hand.
In this manner, Rei’s days continued to pass, consisting of light office work, watching Izumi, and studying. The only major change now was that, since acquiring his driver’s license, he now had more opportunities to drive Seiya around town—moments that where the most enjoyable for Rei.
“So, what next?” Seiya had just finished singing a song requested by Rei and offered to continue, inviting a wry smile from Rei.
“We’re very nearly to the studio now; won’t you be tired, singing nonstop like this?”
“It’s fine! I’m not belting it out or anything here.” Ever since Rei had mentioned that he loved hearing Seiya sing, the man had started serenading him in the car whenever they went out. Rei loved moments like these, where he got to monopolize Seiya’s singing voice. His heart always felt warm and light when they were together, and the feeling was multiplied several times over in moments such as this.
These songs that helped him back to his feet…Seiya’s voice, which had saved him. Every time he heard Seiya sing, he felt his feelings for Seiya grow all the stronger in time to his awe and adoration. And not just feelings that one usually felt towards a savior, but something closer to the love one felt for a parent.
But then…it happened. It was an evening in June, some six months or so after Rei had come to live with the Sena family.
Izumi had professed being scared of monsters, and so Rei had offered that evening to stay with him until he fell asleep. Apparently ghost stories had been gaining popularity among his classmates, and Izumi had happened to hear one of them. Rei had sat at his bedside, intending to simply wait for Izumi to fall asleep, but seeing how poor Izumi had trembled fiercely the moment he turned out the lights, begging, “Sleep with me, Rei?”, he’d slipped into bed with the boy himself.
Perhaps that had been where he’d made his mistake—for before he realized it, he had slipped off to sleep as well. He’d woken again as Izumi wiggled about in his sleep, and upon remembering where he was, he sat up in Izumi’s bed.
“I wonder what time it is…” He glanced to the bedside, where an alarm clock decorated to look like some character or another sat, giving off a faint green glow that lit its face to display the time: 2 in the morning. It seemed he’d taken a rather long nap indeed.
He huffed a soft sigh before slipping out of the bed, careful not to wake Izumi, and then quietly crept out of the room.
But as he wandered down the spacious hallway, headed for the stairs to lead up to his bedroom on the third floor, he heard a sound coming from the other end of the hall—and drew to a stop, curious. What could be going on in the middle of the night?
He took a few more steps closer—before he realized where the sound was coming from: Seiya and Nagisa’s bedroom. “……!”
His heart did a furious somersault in his chest, and he felt a flush wash over himself from head to toe. Panicking, he quickly turned on his heel and made a break for the stairs, taking care not to make a sound. Once he reached his room, he dove onto the bed and buried himself in the sheets, covering up. And even though he knew he shouldn’t still be able to hear anything anymore, he slapped his hands over his ears.
But this only served to make the sounds he’d heard moments before echo all the more loudly inside his mind.
He urged himself to stop thinking about it, but it was no use—quite the contrary, he couldn’t help imagining, picturing what was going on in that bedroom right at this very moment.
Seiya and Nagisa were a married couple; it was hardly out of the ordinary for them to do such things, and the fact that he was even thinking this much about it just proved how low and vulgar he was—it made him want to weep. To top it all off, no matter how hard he tried to scrub it from his memory, he couldn’t help the images of Seiya that rose to fill his mind, unbidden.
He wondered—did Seiya wear an expression no one else ever saw when he had Nagisa pinned beneath him? Something beyond that usual gentle, angelic smile he offered everyone else…?
“Stop thinking about it…!” he hissed in reprimand, but this failed to chase away the images in his mind…
Rei didn’t get much sleep that night.
To be continued…