The Me Who Breaks Out Of The Mold

Original Release on July 25, 2026

Characters

Era

ES Year 2, second year of establishment

Translation

citrinesea

Proofreading

Chapter 1

Season: Summer

Thanks for today, Tori. I’m glad you came on the stream. Thanks to you, the fans seemed to have a really great time.

Well, duh, of course that’d happen if I were there ♪ You can thank me by getting me a juice from a fridge, you know~ We ended up talking a lot, so my throat is totally dry.

Fair enough. Just wait here a sec… Huh?

…!

Ugyaa!?

Y-You surprised me~! Don’t just suddenly shoot your eyes open like that, Hasumi-senpai! It’s not good for my heart!

I wasn’t sleeping. I noticed you guys when you walked into the room.

Then you should’ve said hi, you know~ What were you doing anyways?

Zazen.1

Zazen…? Here, in the shared space?

It’s fine, isn’t it? This space is for all of us to share, so as long as you aren’t being a bother, it doesn’t matter how you use it.

Sure, that’s true, but… Why so suddenly?

Er… The truth is, I wanted to sort out my thoughts a little.

Is there something you’re worried about? You know, you could talk to us about it if it's alright.

Wait a sec, don’t just bring me into this without asking!

It’s fine, right~? Hasumi-senpai has helped the two of us alone countless, countless times, after all.

Hmph. If that’s the case, I’d definitely like to get your opinions on this.

Take a look at this for me.

Let’s see here. This is… a special feature in a magazine?

“Drawing Closer to the Temple-Idol Hasumi Keito’s True Face!” So you were selected for an idol special feature?

Hm-hmnn… There’s a shot of you cleaning the halls of the temple, and one of you chanting sutras… Yeah, all these photos really do capture the vibe you’re a son of the temple.

I think all these pictures are pretty awesome, though… What’s the problem with these?

It’s not that there’s a problem with the special edition. It’s just— It made me think, “This is how they always market me, huh?”

? But you are a son of the temple, aren’t you, Hasumi-senpai?

That’s true, but… There’s just something off about it to me, or rather, I just can’t accept it for some reason.

When it comes to “Hasumi Keito”, things like “Japanese harmony”2 and “temples” aren’t wrong. That’s how I market myself when it comes to streams and unit activities.

But I wouldn’t say that’s all there is to me, if you ask me. It’s almost annoying having the image I’m marketed with be so set in stone, or… Well, I don’t really know how to put it.

But those were the kinds of thoughts I was having as I pondered about the solo live stream Anzu reached out to me about.

Because that live is about, “self-producing the self you want to show people now”, right?3

Indeed. With magazine features like this, I figure the image the world and the fans have of me is that of this “temple-idol”.

So, if that's what the fans want to see, I might as well just wear traditional Japanese clothing on stage to capture it for them.

… But to me, I’m not sure that’s the right way to go.

I’ve been ruminating on that for a little while, but at this rate, I feel like I’m going to make the wrong choice.

And so, I was sitting zazen in order to clear my thoughts.

Wait, hold on! If you hate being seen as the son of the temple, don’t sit zazen! Stuff like that is exactly what a “temple-idol” would totally do!

Mnn, that's where you're wrong.

Zazen isn’t an act just restricted to temples and Buddhism.

Its original goal was to straighten oneself and control your breathing, in order to confront yourself and aim for deep mental concentration.

Because it has similar effects to mindfulness exercises, cultures all around the world practice it outside of Japanese culture2 and spirituality.

Directly equating “zazen” to Japaneseness2 and temples is exactly what they call “putting things in a box.”

Ughhh, I said one word, and he gave me back a hundred…

Well, I get what you want to say. It’s annoying if people just box you into one category and put some label on you like, “This is what that person is like!”

It’s just like, “What you see in the media is just one face of mine! The real me is totally different!”

It’s a little depressing having your charm points and character traits funneled into just one box.

Indeed. I’m grateful to have been in a exclusive story that features a personal side of me like this, but…

… Still. To put it bluntly, I don’t know if “the essence of Japanese culture”2 is really the right image for the ordinary Hasumi-senpai?

Of course, it’s super fitting for you when it comes to your role in a unit like AKATSUKI, but…

When it comes to your student council side or your private side, your love of subcultures4 like manga and music is what sticks out most.

Yeah, that’s definitely true, huh? There were times when I thought you were super seriously into a book, and then it turned out to be manga!

Yeah, totally. When we’d work in the student council way back when, we’d get super into talking about manga, like, “the way that chapter went was wild!” and completely forget about the paperwork we had to do ♪

Heheh, you’re right. There were times like that too, hm?

Oh yeah. There were times you’d just casually quote stuff from manga in everyday conversation too!

Oh yeah, totally~! Like, if I didn't like manga, I totally would’ve have tuned them out ♪

You’re really good at drawing too, like when you drew all the posters for Star Fes...

With all of that, you get kinda obsessive about things, or like, there’s an otaku vibe to you.

Definitely! If we take things like “family home” and “unit” out of the equation, you have more of a “subculture-idol” vibe rather than a “temple-idol” vibe ♪

… Hmmm. So that’s how you guys saw me...

Chapter 2

…

Oh man, we said all those things so selfishly— did we make you angry, Hasumi-senpai…?

No, that’s not it. After hearing your opinions, I was reconsidering who I am.

Within my core is everything I’ve learned from my family’s temple, and the spirit of harmony2 and tradition comprise my foundation.

But that is not all I am.

I love works like manga and Vampire Shogun.5 I love the music I’ve played and I love glasses too.

I suppose the time I've spent obsessing over those things is an important part of who I am as a person.

Well, people are multi-faceted creatures after all.

It’s a waste to just look at one side of a person and decide that’s all there is to them.

Like, take Tori for example.

… Me?

In your fans’ eyes, they’re all like, “Himemiya Tori-sama is the loveliest in the whole world.”

But when we worked together in the student council, you were a dependable member who worked as hard as you could to follow after the footsteps of the President.

What I mean to say is if someone asked me which side of Tori was the right one, there wouldn’t be a wrong answer.

He has a cheeky cute side, and he has a hard working side, and both of them together make the single idol called “Himemiya Tori”.

Hang on now. What are you talking about, cheeky?

Well, you did call me a hard worker, so you do actually get me, for it being you, Isara-senpai?

My charms are absolutely endless after all. Heheh ♪

Multifaceted components come together to make the single person, hm…?

Thanks to you guys, I can clearly understand the gloomy feelings I’ve been harboring now. You have my deep gratitude, Isara. Himemiya.

If our advice even helped you just a little, Hasumi-senpai, I’m happy.

Heheh, it feels a little nostalgic, just the three of us talking about things so casually. It’s like I’m back in the student council room again ♪

A lot sure has happened the past few years, huh~ It feels like those days were a lifetime ago.

… Hey, Hasumi-senpai? What are you doing? You went quiet all of a sudden?

I can draw, I can draw…!6

If I do this, it would definitely make for a good live… I need to sketch all this down before I forget…!

Forgive me, Isara! Himemiya! I have work to do at once!

… He tore down the hall in a bluster, huh.

Yeah. Still, I might feel a little happy Hasumi-senpai could rely on us.

Several days later. Production offices’s meeting room.

— So these are the materials I stayed up all night on.

I was sketching ideas to put together for my outfit for the solo live, but…

To construct the design, I also put together why I’d be wearing these clothes and the character’s backstory.

And I ended up concluding that I needed to depict the worldview for the background.

Before I knew it, I didn’t end up with just an outfit design sheet, but something more like an art book anthology for a manga.7

Heheh… you’re reading over it very zealously. Is it that interesting?

“I’m just happy to read materials that have the soul of Mizuhanome-sensei8 in them...”?

Well, my pen was flying off the sheets... I think they came out pretty well, even for me, if I do say so myself.

… Ahem. So? What do you think about the main outfit proposal?

“We should definitely go forward with this one...”?

Really? That’s good, then.

To more or less explain the concept of the outfit… First, I made a refined suit into the base to express the growth I’ve had going from a child to an adult.

But, I think that alone would end up making it a very stiff formal uniform…?

And so, I put in all the different things I love, like the screentones of manga, the beat of music, and the feeling of excitement I have for subcultures, using all of the glittery ornamentation.

— What is it, Anzu? Your shoulders are shaking. It looks like there’s something you want to say…?

“I need to make this outfit a reality more than I need to breathe...”?

… Wait, it’s still too early to go making this outfit! We still need to confirm all kinds of aspects first…

… Heheh, you really are a fan of mine, hm, Anzu? It’s embarrassing, but… It does make me happy.

Hm? You have a question about the concept art materials?

“The main character of this story seems a lot like you...”?

… Do you think so? I don’t know about that.

Hm? Both the appearance and the character traits seem exactly like me, you say?

Uuu… I wanted to play dumb about it, but it seems it’s impossible to slip one past you.

Just like you pointed out, the main character is modeled after me.

To tell you the truth, I was a touch shy about making myself the main character of the story I was drawing.

It’s the bashfulness of the creator I suppose, or rather, I’m conflicted about projecting too much of myself onto the story.

But… this story is undoubtedly a piece based on the personal steps I took to find the answer to the question of my solo live.

I decided I wanted to do everything I could to express myself without holding back for anyone.

Because in my life, no one else is the main character… I am.

So that’s exactly why I decided to make myself the model for the main character this time.

“I think that’s really wonderful...”?

Do you think so? It feels a little embarrassing for you to praise me with such a straightforward look in your eyes.

But… It's not a bad feeling.

Anzu. Make sure to keep your eyes on me from a front row seat, as I stand on stage as the main character of this story…♪

Translation Notes

↑ 坐禅 (zazen) is a sitting position for meditation, where the focus is on steady breathing, good posture and a focused mind.
↑ 和 (wa) refers to a foundational cultural value in Japan that emphasizes social harmony through maintaining peaceful relationships within a group. 和 encourages compromise, consensus, and the avoidance of open conflict. Generally, it can refer to "Japanese-ness", and is used in words like 和風 (wafu, Japanese style). This story uses it a lot, and I've translated it in different ways depending on the line.
↑ Mao has already done his solo live by this point.
↑ Subcultures are those that are outside the mainstream or dominant culture. Keito being a "subculture idol" is in-line with his theme of being out of the box and pushing past tradition.
↑ Vampire Shogun is an episodic period-drama produced by a film studio associated with Rhythm Link. Keito and Rei bonded deeply over watching this show as kids. The UNDEAD/AKATSUKI tour story Learning from the Past (Succession Match) goes into the show and Keito and Rei's relationship with it in detail.
↑ This is a well-known Japanese meme from Castle in the Sky (a Studio Ghibli movie), where Muska yells "I can read it! I can read!" (読める！読めるぞ！) Keito makes the same fervent expression and the dialogue has the same line structure.
↑ 設定資料集 (せっていしりょうしゅう) is a type of book that contains extensive references and content about the development of anime, manga or video games. These can be things like beta-designs, background art, and notes about world-building or character design.
↑ Keito draws manga and doujinshi in his free time and secretly goes under the pen name Mizuhanome-sensei.