The Cloud Obscuring the Star

Tsukumo Ryou: Hello, Momo! Just the man I wanted to see!
Momo: Lookin’ flamboyant as ever, Ryou-san. You know, if I were a crow I’d be going straight for those super flashy cuffs.
Tsukumo Ryou: Ahaha! How terrifying! I guess I’ll have to pry that snaggletooth off before it turns into a beak– maybe I’ll set it on my desk as a decoration. Need some anesthesia?
Momo: What’s the second son doing out here tonight? Earning pocket money? It’s rare to see you in a place like this. I mean, you’re probably up to no good, after all.
Momo: You ought to cut ties with those bad apples and get a nice job instead. Be a good son. You’ve got a good face, and a good head on your shoulders, after all.
Tsukumo Ryou: Oh, I’m just not compatible with interviewers, and haven’t been since my teens. I even got rejected from a university I was recommended into. All I did was answer their question about what I wanted to learn honestly.
Momo: What’d you say?
Tsukumo Ryou: “I’d like to learn how to be of significant use to people, instead of digging your grave.”
Momo: Smart people sure are nice. I would’ve smacked you with a slipper first, then reject you.
Tsukumo Ryou: Heheheh. How strict of you, Momo.
Momo: Nah, you’re just rude.
Tsukumo Ryou: You’re only kind to everyone because you love people. That’s why you pretend to get along with my parents and my older brother. But in reality, you hate them, don’t you?
Tsukumo Ryou: After all, they’ve watched your friends and colleagues crumble apart and quit their work– more times than you can count. (1)
Momo: It’s not like that at all~ They always take good care of me, and I love them a lot!
Tsukumo Ryou: Splendid! That’s an idol’s smile, alright.
Tsukumo Ryou: No more of this useless chatter– I have big news, Momo. You want to know what it is, don’t you?
Momo: You just want to say it, don’t you?
Tsukumo Ryou: Re:vale will become part of Tsukumo. As will TRIGGER and IDOLiSH7.
Momo: …….
Momo: …Won’t that be difficult? Takanashi-san and us are one thing, but I don’t think Yaotome-san and Hoshikage-san would remain silent on this issue.
Tsukumo Ryou: Yaotome is but a mere infant compared to Tsukumo. As for senile, old Hoshikage? I plan on annihilating him with a scandal. (2)
Tsukumo Ryou: Doesn’t that excite you? The power dynamics in the entertainment industry will completely change.
Momo: Yeah, that sends chills down my spine alright. So, who proposed this disturbing plan?
Tsukumo Ryou: Hmm, I can’t seem to recall. It flew out of my head when I got smacked with a slipper.
Momo: Aw, don’t be like that! I was kidding! Come on, tell Momo-chan. Your suit today is the best of the best!
Tsukumo Ryou: Ahaha, thanks. I love it when you’re so determined, Momo. Let us discuss this some other time.
Tsukumo Ryou: I’ll grill all of your favorite meats. The tongue of the cow, rib meat, and thick slabs of shoulder meat, woven in muscle fiber and fat.
Tsukumo Ryou: Doesn’t that just make you salivate? I look forward to it. Bye-bye! See you again.
Momo: …….
Momo: ……Seriously, just say tan, kalbi, and marbled sirloin……. I’ve completely lost my appetite…….

Official from Hoshikage Entertainment: Yuki-kun. May I introduce you to Natsume Minami? He will also be starring in “Mission.”
Natsume Minami: It’s an honor to finally meet you, Yuki-san. I look forward to working with you.
Yuki: Thanks.
Natsume Minami: Haha…. It’s just as the rumors say. There’s a particular aura about you, you’re mysterious and taciturn.
Yuki: I’m surprisingly funny, though.
Natsume Minami: To say that about yourself…. What an interesting person. I’ve also got a funny little trick up my sleeve– I’m very good at fortune-telling.
Yuki: Oh?
Natsume Minami: Men who have a beauty mark below their left eye, just as you do…….
Natsume Minami: These men fascinate, yet perplex the opposite sex– however, they are passive when it comes to romance. They feel very deeply, but are capricious and whimsical. Many, many women have promised to partake in the perpetuation of these mens’ descendants. (3)
Yuki: Looks like they’ve made me promise something I really can’t promise as an idol.
Natsume Minami: You would suit being an emperor in ancient China. Perhaps you could use that as reference for your own life?
Official from Hoshikage Entertainment: Minami-kun used to be a famous, and genius, child actor. This is the first movie he’ll be starring in since returning from studying abroad. “Mission” will definitely be a blockbuster hit.
Yuki: I see.
Natsume Minami: My child acting days are all in the past now. I’ll do my best to make a fresh start.
Official from Hoshikage Entertainment: We haven’t been much of a match for young people recently, but we’re betting on Minami-kun. Please take care of him, Yuki-kun.
Official from Hoshikage Entertainment: After all, Chiba Shizuo-san treated you quite well, did he not? Even though Re:vale are outsiders, we think of you as one of our own.
Yuki: Oh, is that so?
Official from Hoshikage Entertainment: …Are you listening to me? Just where are you looking?
Yuki: At a revolting, flamboyant man.
Official from Hoshikage Entertainment: What? ……Listen, Yuki-kun. Minami-kun knows about Chiba Salon as well. Please get along with a certain someone’s son during “Mission,” alright?
Yuki: …….
Yuki: ……He won’t be exposing anything. If anything, he’s the one scared of being exposed.
Official from Hoshikage Entertainment: Shh. Not a single word more– not here.
Yuki: You’re the one who brought it up.
Natsume Minami: Working with someone as splendid as you are will be just like a dream, Yuki-san. I can’t wait to film with you.
Yuki: Sure…….
Natsume Minami: Ah, that’s right. I also do music– and I love Re:vale’s music. Congratulations on your fifth anniversary.
Yuki: …….
Yuki: You said you studied abroad? Where did you study?
Natsume Minami: In Northmare.

Yotsuba Tamaki: Woah! This pudding is the bomb!
Kujou Ten: Aren’t you taking too much?
Yotsuba Tamaki: I’m not giving any to you, Tenten. I’m still pissed about Aya.
Kujou Ten: …….
Yotsuba Tamaki: If you’re gonna say Aya’s your younger sister, then I’m making Rikkun my younger brother.
Kujou Ten: Riku’s older than you, so wouldn’t he be your older brother?
Yotsuba Tamaki: Rikkun feels like a younger brother though, so no.
Kujou Ten: ……Aya’s doing well. She told me she was learning how to be a good housewife. (4)
Yotsuba Tamaki: …For who?
Kujou Ten: Oh, that’s not–
Yotsuba Tamaki: Who!?
Kujou Ten: I don’t know. Isn’t that just something that girls do?
Yotsuba Tamaki: ……Tenten. Why are you on Kujou’s side? Why someone like him? He’s not someone you should side with.
Kujou Ten: …….
Yotsuba Tamaki: Also, I tried thinking about what it’d be like if he were my dad, but….
Yotsuba Tamaki: He took Aya, he took you– there’s something wrong with him.
Yotsuba Tamaki: Why are you and Aya covering his ass? Why did you guys follow somebody like Kujou?
Kujou Ten: …What is your profession?
Yotsuba Tamaki: Huh? I’m an idol.
Kujou Ten: What is your group?
Yotsuba Tamaki: IDOLiSH7 and MEZZO".
Kujou Ten: What is your dream?
Yotsuba Tamaki: …I wanna live with Aya.
Kujou Ten: Kujou-san used to be Zero’s manager– and he’s lost all of that once before. Aya is kind. She worries for him.
Yotsuba Tamaki: ……You too?
Kujou Ten: ……. Perhaps I do….

To be continued….

TL Notes/comments:

ty @kuriiii for proofing my 9120398 typos and weird sentences!!!

(1) I’m 90% sure that the sentence before this is referring to momo hating ryou’s parents/older brother (vs the other way around) based off of particles, aka if ryou wanted to say that his parents hated momo it’d be like, 親や兄に嫌われてるだろう？ i think… Anyways this second sentence i don’t want to infer/assume/force meaning onto it too much, because vague subject (probably his parents/older brother) BUT itd make more sense to me if there was [riku voice] JUST TWO MORE LETTERS to change it to ‘they’ve only watched’ …
EDIT 5/5: I Fucked Up, forgot to consider in-group+out-group in terms of family. Momo hates RYOUS parents, not his own!!! Momo has an older sister ffs shiroi u dimwit!!!!!! anyways that was a fatal error, I am really sorry about that. Thank you haru-chi foe letting me know!
(2) Tsukumo Ryou: You are like a little baby. Watch this.
That’s all i wanted 2 say
(3) 子孫繁栄 is 1. perpetuation of your descendants 2. family prosperity 3. fertility, a whole bunch of things you probably eat cool things for on new years (if ur east asian)………………. WeLL um anyways minami’s line after yuki’s confirmed it, what with the whole concubines stuff goin on in ancient china. Man. Also bc this is a fortune, I left it more direct… though i’m sure ‘many, many’ sounds better than “an unspecified, large number of people”
(4) 花嫁修業 - domestic arts / homemaking skills, but for the sake of the convo afterwords (since hanayome means 'bride’, you could loosely translate this to 'studying to be a bride’)

As usual, if you see any mistakes/mistranslations/etc, please message me!

Thank you for reading!!

Trouble

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: You’re pretty used to these sorts of parties, Sougo-kun. Nothing less from FSC’s hei–
Osaka Sougo: Ah…….
Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: He– hey, I kinda wanna eat meat! ……Sorry, that was supposed to be a secret, wasn’t it.
Osaka Sougo: Oh no, I’m the one who should be apologizing, if anything.
Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: You know, I’ve given it some thought since then. Why don’t you try talking it out with your family again?
Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Nobody’s happy when they’re at odds with their family. Right now, I’ve got connections to FSC through TRIGGER’s TV show. (1)
Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: If you want, I could try to mediate the situation, to the best of my ability. How about it?
Osaka Sougo: …….
Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: It’ll be okay. There’s no way a parent could ever hate their child, Sougo-kun.
Osaka Sougo: ……You must’ve been raised in a warm and loving family, Tsunashi-san.
Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Sougo-kun…?
Osaka Sougo: Thank you for offering, but I’m afraid I must refuse. Please don’t mind me.
Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: But–
Osaka Sougo: There is no need to worry. Thank you for your concern.
Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: …….
Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: ……Got it. I’m sorry I butted in like that when I don’t know anything about your situation.
Osaka Sougo: Not at all……. I apologize.

Yaotome Gaku: Tsumugi. Where are the other guys?
Takanashi Tsumugi: Gaku-san. I’m just on standby here, since they’ve all got good conversations going with other people.
Yaotome Gaku: I see. So, how have you been? You’ve been preparing for their first anniversary tour on top of your usual work, right? It must be a handful.
Takanashi Tsumugi: Indeed, it is. But it’s their anniversary tour! Everybody at the agency is just bursting with energy!
Yaotome Gaku: Ahaha. So that’s how it is. I’ll make some time and drop by, one of these days.
Takanashi Tsumugi: Thank you very much! We’ll welcome you with open arms. I’m sure everyone will be delighted!
Yaotome Gaku: Yeah.
Woman: Good evening, Yaotome-kun. You two sure are getting along swimmingly. Are you perhaps Yaotome-kun’s cute little date for tonight?
Yaotome Gaku: Oh…. No, it’s not like that.
Takanashi Tsumugi: Nice to meet you, I’m Takanashi Tsumugi from Takanashi Productions. I work as IDOLiSH7’s manager.
Woman: Oh my, IDOLiSH7’s manager. It’s nice to meet you too. You know, everybody was just so surprised that Yaotome-kun was grinning so much– he’s usually quite surly.
Yaotome Gaku: Haha, I get that a lot. I don’t look that displeased, do I?
Woman: You do, you definitely do. You’re just like an open book, Yaotome-kun. It shows on your face.
Yaotome Gaku: Man, that’s harsh…. Well, I’ll see you later, Takanashi-san.
Takanashi Tsumugi: Yes! Thank you very much. Keep up the good work!
Yaotome Gaku: Yeah.
Yaotome Gaku: …….

Izumi Iori: What’s the matter, Nanase-san. You’re blankly staring at the venue.
Nanase Riku: I just thought it was amazing…. There’s so many people who work in our world.
Nanase Riku: These people are just like us and have dreamed about living in the world of music. They’ve been here for decades, if not more, and there’ll only be more and more people as time goes on.
Nanase Riku: Each and every one of them is like a star, brilliantly shining. They come and go, flowing like the Milky Way, and eventually become part of history.
Nanase Riku: Zero, and us too. We’re all in the midst of that great passage. ……As are Kujou and Sakura Haruki…….
Izumi Iori: Indeed…….
Izumi Iori: Speaking of which, we are only one year in. We need to focus and get ourselves together, lest we vanish like sea foam. (2)
Nanase Riku: You’re right! We still haven’t settled the score with TRIGGER. We’ll also be facing challengers at Black or White this year.
Nanase Riku: I hope we’ll be a group that the challengers won’t be ashamed to face– just like how TRIGGER was to us last year.
Izumi Iori: If we are aiming to fight TRIGGER and Re:vale, then the MOP is the perfect time to do so.
Nanase Riku: MOP? Ah, it’s the thing that decides which idol got the most support this year, right? (3)
Izumi Iori: It will be a race to collect awards like the JIMA and Diamond Disk.
Izumi Iori: Last year, it was a showdown between Re:vale and TRIGGER, and Re:vale ended up winning. TRIGGER intends on winning this year, without a doubt.
Nanase Riku: And we’ll be butting into that fight! Sounds interesting!
Izumi Iori: Haha, how reliable. Ah……. Nii-san, Rokuya-san, where are you going?
Izumi Mitsuki: We were gonna go to the bathroom, but I figured we could also look for Yamato while we’re at it. That dude might be holding on to him still.
Rokuya Nagi: Please go, Mitsuki. I would love to rendezvous with all of the ladies dressed up tonight–
Izumi Mitsuki: I’m doing it to get you away from the venue too! You’re getting way too into this! Right after you’ve come back from Northmare, too!
Rokuya Nagi: OH……!
Izumi Mitsuki: Later guys! If they bring out dessert, grab some for me okay?
Nanase Riku: Gotcha!

Izumi Mitsuki: Stop flirting around! We’re idols, in case you didn’t remember.
Rokuya Nagi: No, no! Bestowing words of praise to women is but a part of a gentleman’s manners.
Izumi Mitsuki: You could say that again. Ah, there he is! Yamato-san–
Man in a Suit: Ahaha…. I’ve heard a lot about your work. It truly does runs in the family.
Nikaidou Yamato: ……Thank you very much.
Izumi Mitsuki: ‘Runs in the family?’ Maybe he knows somebody in Yamato-san’s family? Yamato-san doesn’t like talking about them, so maybe we should stay outta their way…….
Rokuya Nagi: Hm…… I want to know. I’ll give that man my business card and get closer to him.
Izumi Mitsuki: H-hey! Hold up, Nagi……!
Man in a Suit: What was it, IDOLiSH7? It looks like things are going quite well with them. That’s very fortunate, especially in times like these.
Man in a Suit: Say, Yamato-kun. You’re finally making it big. It’d be awful to cause trouble now, especially when things are going smoothly and without any problems. Don’t you think so too?
Nikaidou Yamato: Haha…. Don’t worry. I don’t have any intentions of exposing that right now.
Nikaidou Yamato: Not Chiba Salon.
Izumi Mitsuki: …'Chiba Salon’……?
Rokuya Nagi: …….
Man in a Suit: ……That’s a relief. I remember you telling me, when I first invited you to the entertainment industry….
Man in a Suit: That if you did enter showbiz, you’d only be doing it to get famous and grab everyone’s attention– so you could expose the secrets of Chiba Salon.
Man in a Suit: You know, I was shocked to hear that you debuted as an idol, but I’m glad you weren’t serious about going through with that. This is the best course of action for you, and for your friends.
Nikaidou Yamato: …….
Man in a Suit: I’ll be going now. Please give your father my regards.
Nikaidou Yamato: Hmph. I haven’t even seen his face. If you’ll excuse me….
Nikaidou Yamato: ……!
Izumi Mitsuki・Rokuya Nagi: …….
Nikaidou Yamato: …You guys…….

Kujou Ten: …….
???: Kujou Ten.
Kujou Ten: ……Who are you?
???: My, my. This is my first time seeing the real deal.
Kujou Ten: ……Just who are you? And why are you standing in front of my house? I’m going to call the police.
???: Hehe…….
???: Kujou’s made someone like you into his son, and calls you 'perfect?’
Kujou Ten: …….
???: Let me tell you something. Something that’s even better than my name.
???: Your life is pointless. Try as you may to dance, to win trophies– but both the fans and the world are frivolous.
???: One day, you will be forgotten. All of the things you’ve ever given, all of the things you’ve ever shown, everything, everyone– all of it will disappear, far beyond memory’s reach.
???: You will no longer be the person they wish to see, and your song will no longer be the music they want to hear.
???: After all, that’s what happened to your younger brother. Right, Nanase Ten?
Kujou Ten: …….

To be continued….

TL Notes/comments:

If you don’t already do this, I highly recommend tapping thru the game (or a video playthrough) of the chapter as you read to get the nuances behind each spoken line!!

(1) The more literal would be: “It’s really unfortunate that your family doesn’t get along. ” but I didn’t really like how that sounded (kind of sarcastic? a little condescending? though that is kind of what’s going on here, given the context of what happens in the later part of this conversation)

(2) “vanish like smoke” (also, “disappear like bubbles” LMAO) were my original tl’s, but I wanted to keep that whole star/river/water metaphor going!!! It’s fucking Beautiful. Riku waxes absolute poetry here, I Love It.

(3) phrasing was kinda confusing in orig? lmk if i mucked up this one!
Slight note on the title, it means wind+waves and also strife. 'Strife’ was the working title I used for a while then i actually translated the title drop line, and in context (波風を立てる) it means to cause trouble. yep!

haruka is fun to translate THOUGH there are like one or two sentences i am just not 100% satisfied w/ how i tl’d or any way i try to approach it so:| btwn every draft revision it has changed a little so yeah

BIG THANK U TO KURI AS USUAL 4 CATCHING MY WEIRDASS SENTENCES AND PROOFING!!!

As usual, if you see any mistakes/mistranslations/etc, please message me!

Thank you for reading!!