Impish Crow X RUBIA Leopard vol.1 Type: IC&RL | Exclusive Interview ⑤

QUESTION 5 Tell us about your old nicknames

TOKI: Nicknames… TSUGUMI: Isn’t yours just Toki? MITSURU: Only two syllables, easy. TOKI: Shortening that sure ain’t easy. I don’t really get nicknames from my last name either. HIBARI: You don’t particularly strike me as being bothered by nicknames anyways. TOKI: ‘Hibari’ is already pretty short too. HIBARI: So it is. When I was a child, my parents might have called me “Hii-kun” once or twice. MITSURU: I’ve had a few “Mitsu-kun”. HIBARI: Our fans have their own way with names. MASHIRO: Haiji, aren’t you called “Hai-chan” by our Colors [1] ? HAIJI: Ah, yes, they do sometimes! It’s cute though a bit embarrassing, but it's their own way of showing their love for us. TSUGUMI: I feel the same. They apparently switch between Tsugu-chan and Tsugu-kun… AKANE: Chick. TSUGUMI: You’re literally the only one who calls me that! AKANE: What? Liar. TSUGUMI: Don’t call me a liar! MASHIRO: Speaking of, Akane-chan doesn’t seem to have any weird nickname~ AKANE: Unlike you calling me ‘King’...? MASHIRO: Ah… Well, I call you that every once in a while, but I ain’t the one who started it though. Didn’t it come from a magazine or something? TOKI: “The King of RubiLeo”... Yup, that sounds like a title that would hit the headlines. AKANE: 'Sides from when I was a kid, I think only Mashiro calls me “Akane-chan”? HAIJI: It’s true that Mashiro-san calls people however he feels. He just goes an extra mile for Akane-san. MASHIRO: Well, yeah! Ever wonder why is that~? KURONO: I swear, you really got some nerves. MASHIRO: It’s fiiine, he hasn’t complained yet. KURONO: Don’t get cocky. You’re not even from his family… HIBARI: Hold on… Do you mean that his family calls him “Akane-chan”? TSUGUMI: Eh, so you call Kaede “nii-chan”? AKANE: Nah. We’ve always called each other by our first names with Kaede and Mikado. MITSURU: Too bad you couldn’t give them cute names. AKANE: Well, don’t you go and start calling me “bro” 'n stuff. KURONO: Only your mother still calls you by your nickname, right? AKANE: Oi, idiot, dun' bring it up. MASHIRO: Hmmm? What kind of name? TSUGUMI: I wanna know! HAIJI: I’m curious too! AKANE: … … A-chan. MASHIRO: Wai- Really!? HAIJI: So cute~! MITSURU: Very sweet indeed. AKANE: No matter how many times I repeat myself, ya always gotta spill the beans, huh... MASHIRO: Right. Little birdies [2] , why don’t you call him “A-chan” instead, for the sake of deepening our bonds, hm~? TOKI: Um, can you not throw us under the bus, please? I don’t know what to say now... HIBARI: I'm afraid I will have to follow with this arrangement myself. So very, deeply sorry about this. AKANE: “Sorry” he says, I swear… What's our li'l Chick laughin’ about over 'ere? Not even sharin' the joke with your pals? TSUGUMI: Pff- N-nothing-… In particular-... AKANE: Just so you know, “Kuu-chan” is Kurono’s. KURONO: Akane-san! MASHIRO: Kuu-chan…!! [3] KURONO: Got something to say, mophead!? MASHIRO: We told you to knock it off with the name drops already! Think of Kuu-chan here!! KURONO: Do you know that, of all the things, your ass is bringing shame to Akane’s name!! MASHIRO: I am not! MITSURU: Hey. I’ve thought about that before, but what’s up with Mashiro being a “mophead”? AKANE: Ah-... Well, you know-... (laughs) MASHIRO: You stop that right there!!

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[1] "Colors” is RUBIA Leopard’s fanclub name. Used to not repeat ‘fans’ from the previous sentence. [2] インクロくんたち (Inkuro-kun-tachi) is a childish name Mashiro made-up for Impish Crow. “Little birdies” encapsulated both Impish Crow’s image and them being rookies. [3] In this whole banter, both Mashiro and Kurono end their sentence with a double exclamation point. It sadly doesn’t translate well, but I felt like everyone had to know this very specific info.