bunny love [k. bakugo x oc]

38. The Play

Kuri watched as the curtains drew back to form a narrow opening, and Mina stepped through it to the other side. She was met with polite applause as the spotlight illuminated her. Kuri listened to Mina's footsteps as she padded to the edge of the stage and sat down. Then, she began her monologue.

Kuri couldn't recite it from memory since she hadn't written it. In the days before they chose to pitch the play for the school festival, Kuri and her friends thought of how they could make the story more interesting. Their original plan was just a fairytale with a coming-of-age theme, but they worried it was too cliche. To combat this, Mina introduced the idea of a narrator who would "read" the story to the audience and act as a framing device. Since she proposed the idea, the four agreed that Mina should have the role of the narrator and decide her lines. Plus, she was the best in class at engaging an audience through any means.

Kuri also couldn't recite it because Mina changed her wording every time. This was fine since Mina had outstanding improv skills, but Kuri hadn't expected her opening spiel to allude that she was reading a fairytale to small children, pretending the audience was a class full of kids. Mina's extempore jokes earned some laughs from the crowd as she continued, establishing the world of The Noble and The Maid. Kuri heard faintly the sound of Mina flipping through the first pages of the thick, yellowed book that Momo had borrowed from her home library. Unbeknownst to the audience, it had the script tucked inside so Mina could offer lines if any other cast members forgot.

"And so..." Mina said, the curtains drawing open at her cue. Even in the low light, it was easy to make out the shape of the wonderful platform the set design team had built. It took up most of stage right and stood a half meter higher than the rest of the stage. Fumikage gracefully ascended the platform's steps adjacent to the stage right wing. He sat on a small bed in the center of the platform. "...the noble's son Yutori, knowing his parents would not listen to his pleas, resigned himself to the knowledge that he would remain in the Miyamoto estate for a long, long time."

The stage lights yawned to life, gently illuminating Yutori's room, and he heaved a wistful sigh as he gazed out the window (which was basically a square on wheels). He began a soliloquy, speaking of his loneliness and the isolation that came with his noble status. Not even the maids or guards were willing to share more than a few words with him. Yutori stood and moved to his easel beside the bed, where an unfinished self-portrait sat. Yutori remarked to the painting that it would have to wait for completion until his father let one of the maids get more paint. He suddenly heard a commotion from beyond his door, and Yutori turned to glance. An exasperated guard—Tenya, who had picked up two additional roles—stepped into Yutori's room.

"My Lord, there are strange visitors here to see you," Tenya announced, giving Yutori a look that begged him to reject the randos. Yutori was taken aback. He never had visitors.

"Send them in," he insisted. "And leave us be, so we may speak in peace."

The guard looked worrisome but begrudgingly walked off stage, allowing two unusually-dressed teens to waltz in. Though Yutori welcomed them with an open hand, his eagerness was met with disrespect as the two strangers whipped out staffs and cast a spell.

The transformation sequence was almost dizzying. The main lights dimmed, and colored lights flashed on and off as the mages circled Yutori, waving their staffs, which had shimmery ribbons attached to them. Dark Shadow crept over Fumikage's body, morphing Yutori into a purple-black form with glowing yellow eyes. He collapsed to his knees as the lights returned to normal, and the mages ran back out the way they came.

Yutori was still for a moment, then looked at his sides. Where his arms used to be, there were now giant black wings. An unfortunate development, he called it, nonetheless his current reality. Then a thought occurred to him: perhaps this would be his chance to leave the noble life behind once and for all. But how would life be as a painting bird?