SHIGURE AND VELOUR

Shigure and Velour C
Shigure: Hm? Velour, is that you?
Velour: It is… There’s something I’d like to ask of you.
Shigure: What is it?
Velour: I’ve heard that you’re very good at art… There is something I’d like you to paint…
Shigure: I’d be fine doing anything for a comrade. Whatever you’d like me to do, I’ll do it. What did you want me to paint?
Velour: Will you come with me for a moment…?
Shigure: All right…?
Velour: This way.
Shigure: Isn’t this your tent? Is it all right for me to go in?
Velour: Yes…
Shigure: Pardon the intrusion… Gah! There’s trash everywhere…! Leaves all over the floor, and rotting pieces of wood… Scraps of food and rusted furniture… Corpses of bugs and other animals, and… bones…?! W-What is all this…?
Velour: These are all my treasures…
Shigure: Your t-treasures?! I-I’m so sorry…!
Velour: Why are you apologizing?
Shigure: These are all things you like, aren’t they? I know people all have different tastes, but I still called them trash, and I apologize! I probably looked so shocked… I want to hit myself now… As an artist, I feel so embarrassed…
Velour: I don’t understand what you’re muttering to yourself about, but I’d like you to draw the inside of my tent as it is now. My treasures are all things that will eventually rot away. Within days they will either break or spoil completely. I would like you to immortalize them in your art…
Shigure: I-I see…
Velour: Will you do it?
Shigure: Yes. I haven’t painted anything like this before… but I’ll think of it as a challenge to myself.
Velour: Thank you very much, Shigure….!
Shigure: But if I paint it the way it is now, nobody else would even want to look at it… Hmm, do I pretty it up, or keep it the way it is? Hmmn… What to do…
Velour: Shigure…?
Shigure: No, it’s nothing… Just give me some time to get planning first.
Velour: Yes, of course…

Shigure and Velour B
Shigure: Velour, do you have a moment?
Velour: What is it…?
Shigure: I’ve finished the painting you asked me to do.
Velour: Oh! The painting of my tent… I’ve been waiting. Please let me see it…
Shigure: A-All right… Here you go.
Velour: Thank you very… …Huh…?
Shigure: …
Velour: This… is all wrong…  The tree branches aren’t this lively, and the leaves should be a more rotten color… And the bug corpses look so shiny that they look like they’re alive…  Shigure, w-why would you draw it like this…?
Shigure: I-I just thought that this would be how you imagined it to look.
Velour: How I imagined it to look…
Shigure: Yes, how you saw it from inside of your heart… I thought that you saw things in a much more beautiful way, and that’s how I put it down in the picture…!
Velour: …I see… I’ve heard that this is the way art is done. Shigure, I’m sorry… I asked you to draw this, and all I did was complain…
Shigure: N-No, it’s fine…
Velour: Is still all right if I take this…?
Shigure: Of course it’s all right!
Velour: Thank you very… much…
Shigure: … Making things prettier didn’t work out after all…

Shigure and Velour A
Shigure: Velour.
Velour: Shigure… …
Shigure: Hm? You don’t seem very happy. Is something wrong?
Velour: No, not really…
Shigure: I-I see, then…
Velour: At any rate, did you need something from me…?
Shigure: Ah, Yes. I redid that painting you asked me to do.
Velour: The painting…?
Shigure: Yes, the one of your treasures. This time, I drew everything exactly as they are now. There are certainly fewer colors than the first time… But here, have a look.
Velour: ...This… This is…
Shigure: Erm… Velour? D-Do you still not like it? I suppose I messed up again… I used too much black and brown…
Velour: This is wonderful…
Shigure: Huh?
Velour: It’s wonderful! It was done fantastically…! And they’re all my treasures…! Thank you very much, Shigure…!
Shigure: Thank goodness… I’m just glad that you’re happy!
Velour: Actually… the treasures I’ve decorated my tent with have already rotted away… I can’t leave them there any longer, so I’m going to clean them out later this morning…
Shigure: …! So that’s why you seem so unhappy.
Velour: Yes… But now that I have this painting, I can continue loving these same treasures. I’m so very happy…
Shigure: …I see. It was worth it to redo the painting. I suppose you won’t need the earlier painting anymore. I’ll get rid of it, so if you have time, you can give it back to me…
Velour: N-No! You can’t get rid of it!
Shigure: Huh? …Why not? I thought you didn’t…
Velour: Yes, that painting is not of my treasures… but it’s something that you painted just for me. Because of that… I think of it as also one of my treasures.
Shigure: Velour…
Velour: So please… Don’t throw away one of my treasures…
Shigure: …All right. I won’t throw it away. …And thank you. I’m very happy to hear that you consider my painting a treasure of yours.
Velour: No, I am far happier… Thank you, Shigure. Later, I’ll give you one of my special treasures. It’s a beautiful shed snakeskin, and I found it in an area with many large, venomous snakes…
Shigure: E-Erm, I… Um… I’m looking forward to receiving it…

Shigure and Velour S
Shigure: Velour, I finally understand…!
Velour: Huh? …What did you understand?
Shigure: I understand why you think of the scraps of food and branches and corpses as treasures! You just find ruined and old things to be beautiful!
Velour: Ruined things…?
Shigure: Yes. Nothing in this world is permanent. People, grass, the earth, everything will go away eventually. But even that’s beautiful. You can find radiance in things that are reaching their end. I can tell that you’re someone who’s sensitive to such beauty.
Velour: Erm… I haven’t thought that much about it…
 Shigure: As another person who appreciates art, I find your way of thinking fascinating! I’d like to talk to you even more, as I would like to figure out your reasoning for this… Please… become my lover!
Velour: … I-Isn’t this all a bit sudden?
Shigure: Not at all, I find someone who searches for their own type of beauty to be very charming. I’ve lived my entire life drawing and thinking that way. That’s why… you’re my ideal woman.
Velour: Shigure… To be honest, I don’t think I’m as great as you think I am… I just collect things I like… B-But I do know that you’re trying your hardest to understand me, and since nobody else has done that before… I’m so very, very happy.
Shigure: Really…?!
Velour: Yes… Would you like me to become your lover?
Shigure: Y-Yes, of course!
Velour: But please don’t say that you don’t understand my aesthetic sense.
Shigure: Of course I won’t. From now on, and for a long, long time, we’ll lift our sense of beauty to even greater heights!
Velour: Hee hee… Yes, we will.