Sushi and Pocky Sticks (OHSHC)

33 | Apprehension

Dedicated to Nearing for providing the most insightful constructive criticism I've gotten and for taking the time to read this series.  I really do appreciate it and your comment motivated me to post this chapter!

  

— Chapter 33 — 

Apprehension

  

"A cast party, Tama-chan?" Hani wondered out loud with a curious expression. A little smile formed on his face, and he looked up at Tamaki once again. "I think that'd be pretty neat!"

"It'll be held in the club room afterwards," Tamaki explained cheerily. "The other school clubs will be joining in as well!"

"And you decide to let us know about this on the day of our performance?" I asked, peering down at the gown I was wearing.

I allowed my hands to travel along the silky fabric on the dress. Although I'd already tried it on several times before, I was still amazed that the seamstresses had measured everything perfectly.

"Hiro-chan!" Hani beamed, looking up at me. "You look so pretty."

"Thanks, Hani-senpai," I smiled in reply.

We were getting ready to perform in an hour. Even though I'd already recited my lines fluently multiple times over, it was still a little nerve-wracking to think of being on a stage in front of everyone. Hopefully things would go smoothly and I wouldn't stumble on my words too many times.

Kyouya was acting a little strange today; he'd happen to take a few glances at me as usual, but there were no signs of even a slight grin. Unease washed over me after what had happened when we were rehearsing the day before, but I couldn't let emotions get in the way before we were going to be on stage.

It was a good thing we were performing in the evening; it was a little too warm in the daytime for everyone to be performing outside with bulky costumes on. The stage looked even prettier than I'd imagined. Despite the fact that Ouran didn't exactly specialize in the arts, the school clubs and the people in charge sure knew how to set things up. White lights were wrapped around the small pillars surrounding the platform.

The black magic club went first with their act. "Macbeth" was clearly perfect for this group of people in particular, and Nekozawa did a pretty good job of portraying the darker side of the main character.  I was really glad that the violent scenes were more comical when performed by this group, and Kirimi certainly made a hilariously adorable witch. Surprisingly, even a group of people like this managed to make everyone laugh with their rendition of the play. As expected, they received a high score from the people judging: a nine out of ten.

The clubs who performed several acts from the plays like "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Much Ado About Nothing" received high scores as well, and although I still felt nervous, it was hard not to enjoy myself.

Shuffling behind the stage curtains was a little more nerve wracking than I thought it would be, but seeing the others get into character eased my anxiety. All of us gathered around in a huddle and Tamaki offered a few words of encouragement to all of us before we began to act out our first scene.

All of us were doing very well so far, and of course, all of the host club's customers cheered for us and appeared to be on the edge of their seats the entire time. They especially liked Tamaki's lines.  The twins' cooperation with playing a single character was something else that induced wondrous looks from the audience, given that they even managed to work a few of their twincest acts into it.