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Stage lights have always been beautiful to Tsukasa. A necessary accessory to a show, changing to set moods, enhance experiences, shine upon the lead. To him, a small taste of what’s to come. To be under the spotlight is to be focused on, as a star, he always would be.
Currently, Tsukasa has to seize his chance in the spotlight, and take it for all it’s worth. Bring out his best, give the world his best, put his all into those smiles. It’s what his shows have always been about, he’s unsure why it’d taken so long for him to remember. A hope that’d grow over time, and reached a point where it could be titled a dream. It had, first and foremost, been about bringing joy. Smiles. From his sister, to the world and beyond.
Taking things seriously was second nature, as someone planning on becoming professional, if that was what it took to make that spotlight time less limited. However, forgetting to consider what was important would come with it, he hadn’t realised how stifling it was to take that direction. He wasn’t chasing stardom to showcase, nor bedazzle the world, it shouldn’t — No, it
didn’t
hurt to remember that anymore.
So why…
He sees Nene on stage, even from his limited view backstage, he watches. Nene, under a sparkling, classic, white spotlight. Where he would eventually be when his part came. The way Nene acts gets him proud at times, letting him to think back on how she was when they first met, using Robo-Nene as a mask of sorts to hide herself when on stage. Of how much she’d changed since they’d become a troupe. In a way, he’s changed quite the same, in finding his roots and growing as an actor. In
legitimately studying
the field, with first-hand experience, with a
troupe
.
He has so much with him now, access to all he could ever want to experiment with, memory of his dreams, and more experience than he’d ever expected himself possible.
Why, then, why was he still being hindered? Why did he still feel so behind?
Nene’s dance reaches a climax, Tsukasa’s questions are drowned by the pride he feels to see his troupemate perform on such a scale. It’s a small victory, perhaps, not a victory at all, but it’s at the very least a
step.
He couldn’t
not
take pride in her achievement.
Soon, him and Nene would be soaring past, the two of them had vowed their goals to each other. To become the world’s future star, and to become a songstress whose voice could be heard worldwide. Nene’s taking steps ahead,
so what of him?
He considers his actions over the past month, and it
clicks.
Tsukasa’s small victories, his
steps
, he was forgetting them. He was throwing them off as nothing more than slight movements, nudges in the right direction — Yet, he was moving forward
.
He simply hadn’t realised that, at least, before now.
His spotlight time was treated like
time
, and nothing more. He didn’t take a chance to step back and admire the smiles he’d drawn onto his audience, there was only a strive to be better.
Yet, without their joy in the moment, was a chance on the spotlight really special?
No. Tsukasa thought, it certainly wasn’t.
That
was his problem. Nene takes a bow, he can almost sense the newfound confidence in her step.
“Your cue, Tsukasa.” She taps him on the shoulder, and his trance is quick to pass. Not in the manner of a haze that fades as he realises where he is, rather, a balloon that goes ‘
pop!
’, and splits his eyes open. He can’t help but jump at the sudden sense of reality, that, Nene takes note of. “Are you doing alright?”
“Of course! How else would your star be!?” Nene scoffs, but there’s a fond tinge to it, Tsukasa had always found that hint endearing. She gestures past the curtains, the new set being dragged on, and sends him a smile.
“Break a leg.” Tsukasa nods, beaming,
“I sure will!”
He will make the most of this spotlight, here and now, just they wait!