"'Tis b-but thy name that is my e-enemy.
Thou art thyself, though not a M-Montague."
I recited the famous lines from the page, infusing my emotions into each letter as I ambled through the school gates. However, my tongue was tied, and far too inexperienced to convey it, which led to me tripping over my words. I'd been rehearsing the play throughout my journey to Hoshizaki—making sure I left early, so I'd make it in time—but, after all, it was difficult.
We'd been helping Upperclassman Issei with practice for two days now. He'd still stumble over his lines, and would utter. . . mistakes I'd rather not repeat. Banri and Igarashi were doing the best in their own way to whip him into shape for his audition. I'd been doing my best to support him too. It was frustrating, but all I could do was bounce his lines off him. Offering minimal feedback was short of impossible, as I didn't know the first thing about acting.
I'd asked Rin-Rin for advice yesterday, seeing as he was surrounded by celebrities of all kind daily, but. . .
"What! You're auditioning for a gig, Shii?"
"Not. . . exactly," I'd told him. "I'm helping someone with his and made a big deal about him not giving up. But now I realize I can hardly do anything to back up those words. That's why I was hoping you had any advice I could give him."
"A. . . guy?"
His murmur nearly slipped my notice.
"Yes, he's a guy," I replied.
That wasn't the correct response because he exclaimed, "Shii, no! Tell me it isn't true!"
"What do you—"
"You're already replacing me?" he cut me off, his pout clear in my ears. "I-I know I'm hardly there for you because work keeps me busy, but I care for you a lot more than he does! There's no way I'm letting him steal you for himself!"
"Rin-Rin, calm down! He's only an upperclassman."
"An. . . upperclassman? Th-that's. . . it?" He remained sulking. "I'm still your number one?"
"Always!"
From there, Rin-Rin prodded me more about who he was. Seeing as he was so good at sparking conversation, I ended up getting swallowed by his pace, and only realized he hadn't answered my question when we ended the call. Since he was busy with his work, I didn't want to bother him so I decided to shelve it for another time. From there, I brainstormed my own ideas.
The only thing I could do to not get in Upperclassman Issei's way was to practice Juliet's lines. If I was stiff in my delivery or distracted in getting the tone right, it could hinder his concentration or performance. That was why I'd left early today to get as much practice in before we met during lunch. . .
I sighed. Which was a wasted effort, evidently. I stunk pretty bad. . .
As soon as the thought drifted to mind, I whipped my head.
I couldn't lose heart. Upperclassman Issei was working hard, too. It wasn't as if I were tasked with the impossible; I just had to reach the point where I wouldn't get in his way.
Shifting my gaze onto the booklet, I continued where I'd left off.
"What's Montague? it is n-nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
B-Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
Wh-What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name w-would smell as swe—"
I collided into a firm surface, shutting me right up. The impact wasn't enough to cost my balance, but my script managed to skid to the ground and knock against somebody's foot.
"Oh, sorry," I quickly apologized, crouching to pick it up. "I wasn't watching where I was—"
Their foot slammed onto the white pages without mercy. My voice hitched in my throat.
Multiple shoes pattered afterward, encircling my body, and leaving me trapped.
I slowly peered up. Finding Bristly Brows, and the rest of Motoko Hanai's posse, was the last thing I expected.
"First you steal the thunder from under Miss Hanai, and now you're vying to become an actor?" Bristly Brows sneered. "Who's your victim this time?"
I was surrounded. Sweeping over the scowling girls around me, in an area on campus free from lingering witnesses, my shoulders sagged. Sighing, I ascended to my feet.
"I should be asking why you're cornering a frail maiden first thing in the morning," I said squarely to her face.
Bristly Brows was far from amused. Her glare burned with fury. "You ruined Miss Hanai's life."
"She was trying to destroy Igarashi's."
"So what? Miss Hanai had that award in the bag. She was this close to reaching her dream! But you had to get involved and ruin it. Not only that, her entire reputation is finished! That midget didn't even win that award in the end, so it was pointless!"
She sounded like nothing more than a whimpering dog. However, I was strangely calm.
"We didn't do it looking to win an award," I said, honestly. "She used Igarashi for years without giving him the slightest credit. And after climbing that far, instead of thanking him, she spat all over his dream and efforts. I don't care how talented she was, she's a scumbag for that."
The girls wavered.
Bristly Brows was the only one who didn't. "So you destroyed every chance of her having a career? That midget gave his songs to her voluntarily! Even that last one—he promised it to her. You have no idea how much she struggled to even get that scout to attend the Music Festival; offer her a record deal. How many setbacks she's had to endure. She only used that underhanded method to get that song because she had no other choice! With success so close, did you expect her to back down? That midget betrayed her by refusing to give her that song, so she did what she had to!"
"Yeah!" chorused her peers.
"But because of what you did, that's all gone!" Bristly Brows screeched. "All these rumours are spreading about her being a fraud, about her stealing songs, about being two-faced. Her entire future is in ruins because of you!"
"She destroyed it herself."
They flinched.
"Look, I agree. There were probably other ways we could've resolved the situation," I tacked on. "Likewise, there were so many other ways she could've approached it. If she wanted to win that award, if she cared about her dream, she should've known better than anyone how much it hurts to not have your skills recognized, and your dreams trampled upon. Yet she did that so easily with Igarashi. I don't know her circumstances. But I do know Motoko Hanai is a fraud. She is two-faced. She is a liar. And no matter how much you dogs bark in replace of your master, those facts won't change."
Bristly Brows—the girls in general—trembled. Whether my words got through to them or not, I wasn't going to back down.
"Get your filthy shoe off that script," I pressed, eyebrows tapered in a deathly scowl. "We're done here."
"You bitch!" Bristly Brows spat.
She left me no time to think, flung her balled fist straight for my chin. I had no time to react, could only squeeze my eyes right, readying for impact.
"Stop right there!"
The yell pierced the smothering tension. Bristly Brows' impact, which I deemed I couldn't escape from, didn't arrive. When I parted my eyelids, the reason became clear.
A body had shielded me. Large, broad shoulders, and a brazen smirk that stole the oxygen from the air itself. His outfit was plenty shocking as well. It was a uniform I'd seen in history textbooks from the Sengoku Period, complete with a sword dangling from his hip. The eyepatch beneath his glasses was telltale of the character he'd donned this time.
"U-Upperclassman Issei?" I stammered.
Not that he addressed my shock. Gripping the hilt of the plastic weapon, he framed his attention on the slew of girls, now gasping in disbelief.
"Wh-what's the meaning of this?" Bristly Brows demanded.
"It is I who should be asking that." Gone was his trademark upbeat demeanour; now replaced by crisp words and a glare that chilled you to the bone. "Ambushing an unarmed civilian, intent to end their life for no reason but living. Are you so cowardly that you'd choose to fight your battles without honour and dignity?"
Hanai's underlings were at an utter loss of words.
"What is this weirdo saying?" hissed one.
"He's cosplaying out in broad daylight, too. What a loser."
A snicker. "He's from those boys who do makeovers, right? What was his name? I heard he was strange, but this is just embarrassing."
The insults rolled off Upperclassman Issei like nothing.
More derisive giggles erupted.
"Are you her bodyguard or something?" Sharing in her comrades' gaiety, Bristly Brows raised a hand, lips stretched high. "Will you come to her rescue whenever someone insults her?"
"Instantly," he responded in a heartbeat. "Dare slander her again; I will not hesitate to send you to an early grave."
She recoiled. The laughter died down, too.
His leer darkened.
Bristly Brows gulped hard. She grounded her teeth, then pivoted on her foot.
"Whatever. I'm not getting involved in this nonsense."
She stormed off at that. Upperclassman Issei's growls caused the once sniggering girls to squeak and dash after her.
Upon their hasty retreat, Upperclassman Issei stood taller and smiled wider.
"Victory falls upon me once more. Now there is no denying my power. Not mine, the One-Eyed Dragon, Masamune Date!"
Open-mouthed, I could only goggle in awe as he unhanded his sword and faced me, countenance smeared in content.
His gaze softened considerably. "Are you all right, Kisaragi?"
"I-I'm. . . fine," I mumbled, still revelling at his display, and the predicament I'd avoided. "If anything, they said way worse things about you."
"It's okay." He brushed it aside with a grin. "I'm used to being called a weirdo and loser."
I chuckled, relief drenching me from head to toe. "I don't think you should get used to something like that."
His laugh mirrored mine. He squatted and handed me the battered script. After exchanging apologies, and him excusing it was all right, I'd raised a question.
"What are you doing?"
He set his palms at his waist, aware I was referring to his attire. "Hmm. . . changing my tune?" he answered. "Banri implied that the reason I'm stuck and not improving is because I'm too close to Romeo and Juliet. So, I had an idea that if I get involved with other forms of media, it may help clear my mind and allow me to tackle the play from a fresh perspective."
"Oh, so you chose Masamune Date?" I concluded.
"The version of him from one of my favourite historical dramas. Oh, but since simply rewatching it was boring, I decided to get into character. Mooched everything I could from the school theatre, too." He posed. "What do you think? Aren't I cool?"
Albeit odd, I couldn't deny it. It was the first time I'd ever been saved, and defended, so dramatically. Cheeks warm, I nodded. "Um, yes."
"I'm worried, though. Those girls seemed to have a serious bone to pick with you."
"I. . . guess. But I'll be fine. I can handle my weight in a proper fight."
His hand settled on top of my head, gently ruffling my hair. "I'm worried because I don't want you fighting in the first place. It's all right to depend on others when you need to. Just like I'm depending on you now."
The warmth from the touch melted my heart. The thoughts that'd been building in my mind subconsciously brimmed to the surface. "I'm hardly doing anything to support you, though," I admitted. "Despite making a huge deal about soldiering on through failure, I can hardly read my lines either."
"The fact that you feel that way is more than enough."
I screwed my focus up. Despite his unapproachable appearance, the tenderness on his face was clear as day.
"It made me happy when you told me my performance moved you, and that I could reach my goal someday," he confessed. "You somehow roped Banri and your friend Igarashi into helping me, and even when you learned of my weakness, you believed in me anyway. Now you're saying you want to do more for me on top of all that?"
"Th-that's. . ."
He removed his palm from my head.
"Thanks, Kisaragi. My heart feels so full. I'm so, so glad I got to meet such a cute girl."
My mouth clamped shut, a blush scorching my ears.
"My little sister used to cheer me on just as much as you do." His choice of words came as a surprise. I flickered up my head as he droned on. "Of course, back then, all I really cared about was making her smile."
Emitting a faint breath, he woefully looked ahead.
"I've always loved telling stories or donning different roles, but more so in front of Inoha. She'd get so unbelievably happy. It wasn't like I was any good at it, being as young as I was. But I wanted to brighten her days as much as I could." He tittered at the memory. "She was sickly from childhood so she was often stuck in the hospital for tests, so whenever I had the chance, I'd tell her wild tales and put on one-man productions to cheer her up. And the days I couldn't, she'd cry to our parents about how she adored my performances much more than anything on TV. It touched me a lot. I still remember one of the last things she told me was that when we grew up, she wanted the whole world to see my shows so they can smile, too."
Despite the sorrowful connotations behind his words, Upperclassman Issei's beam was bright.
"Inoha isn't. . . around anymore—passed away a while after that—but that promise is something I hold dear to this day. I'll make it a reality. That's why there's no need to beat yourself up for my sake. Your words, and your sentiments, give me plenty of strength."
"Upperclassman Issei," I murmured.
I gnawed on my bottom lip. From such a young age, he treasured this ambition. His younger sister was the reason he'd been so tied to it. Valuing others' smiles, brightening their days, or moving their hearts. . . it was all pivotal to reaching the stage of his dreams.
The reason he adored impromptu theatre was probably the same. Like he once enlightened me, the public reaction was instantaneous. He didn't have to wait for a director to provide lines or outfits or yell cut to obtain the responses he desired.
He had a wild imagination and loved to tell stories, which proved difficult when binding himself down to the stories of others. Nothing was wrong with that, but it definitely was a hard rut to liberate himself from. Nonetheless, if he wasn't going to toss the bucket despite the countless failures he endured in life, I shouldn't get discouraged either.
"We still have a few more days." Another fire had been lit within me. I balled my fists, and an ear-splitting grin shaped my mouth. "You're going to ace that audition. I'll make sure of it!"
Upperclassman Issei matched my declaration with equal determination. Smirking, he connected our knuckles. "Sounds good! Let us take up arms and emerge victorious, Kisaragi!"
✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ ❋ ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧
We practiced like hell after that. Rehearsing and rehearsing and rehearsing until even I had the script memorized. It felt hopeless at some points. Banri and Igarashi nearly murdered Upperclassman Issei whenever he got a bit too in character and made romantic passes at me. Although he excused his innocence vehemently, I do admit it was touching how overprotective Banri and Igarashi had gotten over my well-being.
It was around the time we assumed all hope to be lost when he finally uttered his lines without flaw. Considering he was already an amazing actor, with the absence of mistakes, the sight was breath-catching. We practiced tenfold following that to ensure he'd mark it down by muscle memory so his bad habits wouldn't resurface.
By the time we'd bulldozed through sleepless nights and mentally taxing afternoons, the day of the audition finally arrived.
Banri, who'd wanted to tag along, suddenly couldn't make it because Upperclassman Miyake had dragged him to do Beautician Boyz work.
Igarashi was restrained by Koshiba herself, who wasn't the happiest to discover what he'd been up to behind her back.
That left me pacing in an unmentionable frenzy inside the waiting area of the building Upperclassman Issei had disappeared into alongside a horde of other individuals. I hadn't felt this much of a nervous wreck in forever. I'd attended Rin-Rin's idol auditions multiple times until he'd finally acquired a gig that shot him into stardom. Even then, Rin-Rin managed most of that through his skills alone, and I was nothing but a measly friend cheering him on from the sidelines.
Upperclassman Issei's situation carried a different kind of weight. As if I was the one auditioning alongside him in spirit. Maybe it was because I worked equally as hard beside him.
After seconds elapsed into minutes, and minutes into decades, Upperclassman Issei finally departed from the elevator.
I tackled him before he could properly depart.
"How was it? Did you remember not to bring up samurais or baby cannibalism? Your tone?"
He snorted, which turned into a full-on belly laugh. "Kisaragi, calm down," he said between breaths. He ushered me away from the elevator so that others could file inside or out. "I managed all of that."
"You sure?" I prodded. "Most of what I listed you do without thinking."
"I'm positive," he assured me. "I did my best. Everything we worked on, all our efforts, I poured it into my performance."
His eyes twinkled behind his frames, which settled my racing pulse.
I released a sigh I didn't know I was holding, and smiled. "Thank goodness. You'll probably have to wait a while before the results come out, but I'm sure you did well."
"About that. . ."
I fluttered my lashes.
His fingers threaded through the backside of his head. He chuckled. "I actually got an instantaneous answer."
"You did?!"
I pounced on him once more, glistening broadly.
He nodded, then in the most jovial tone in his possession, he declared, "I didn't make it."
"I knew it! You worked so hard! Plus you're so remarkable at acting, I find myself in awe every time and— W-wait! What the hell did you just say?"
Innocently tilting his head, he poked his cheek. "I got turned down. Spectacularly, at that."
The euphoria that had poured out of me, stalled. I gawped at him for what felt like centuries. A heavy silence swallowed us.
Then, "WHAT?"
Opposite to my disbelief, Upperclassman Isssi couldn't look happier. "I wasn't what they were looking for, apparently. Maybe it's my glasses. People do tell me they make me look too dorky. In my opinion, I think they give me a more intelligent appeal. . ."
I seized his sleeve. "Wh-what are you saying? They watched your performance and instantly turned you down? There's no way! They're crazy if they did! You were so, so great!"
Fuming, I furrowed my brows and stomped forward.
"Let me have a talk with them."
"Kisaragi."
He grabbed my wrist before I made it far. Witnessing his cool demeanour, pain nestled in my chest.
"Aren't you angry, Upperclassman Issei?"
"About what?"
His retort left me at a loss of words.
"I practiced and practiced—harder than I've ever done, with people supporting me every step of the way. It's because of you guys I finally gave a show I poured my whole heart into. What's there to be angry about?"
Grappling for words, I faced him.
"If anything, I should be grateful I even managed to last this long," he continued. "Usually, I say one word completely off from the script, and they shoo me away with looks of scorn. Today they heard me out all the way before dismissing me."
"But. . ."
"I'm not the only one who busted his butt off for this audition. So many people came here today because they felt they had the chance. I can't be selfish and assume I deserve this role based on ego alone." He beamed. "Besides, there's so many other roles I can vie for in the future. The perfect part exists for me out there. I just have to find it."
Touched by his dedication, tears stung my eyelids. He was so, so good-natured.
Unable to control myself, I smiled all the same. "You'll definitely make it one day! I know you can!"
I might've imagined it, but the fondness of gaze expanded at that moment.
He extended something to me before I could dare question it.
"By the way, I passed by an interesting flyer on my way down."
I collected the colourful sheet, and read it aloud, "Casting call for 'Land of the Rising Sun', a high-stakes drama starring Takekazu Yashiro, a ninja originating from a village hidden in the mountains, whose duty quickly becomes to protect the village princess, Akiimi Iwaki, when she is falsely accused of murdering the shogun. . ."
Upon perusing the tagline, I gandered up in time to find Upperclassman Issei with an uppity finger and thumb under his chin.
"Making my debut as a ninja doesn't sound too bad."
The story itself sounded rather cliché, but somehow, the picture of Upperclassman Issei in ninja attire morphed it into something infinitely more enthralling.
"Will you cheer me on again?" he asked.
"Of course!" I didn't even have to think about it. "Oh, but it's coming up soon so you should start preparing right away."
"Maybe I should let Banri recite the lines for the princess. He seemed jealous when you were playing Juliet."
I had to conceal my giggle with my hand. "I don't think he'd be thrilled about that."
"You think so? He loves attention so I'm sure he'd kill for it."
"In that case, Igarashi would make a better princess. Size aside, his obnoxiousness makes Banri look like a saint in comparison."
"Size aside. . . You're brutal, Kisaragi!"
"You're one to talk. I still can't believe you mistook him for a kid."
"That was because. . . !"
As we upheld our lighthearted tête-à-tête, our laughter was present, and left a comfortable mood. Wherever life led Upperclassman Issei, he would surely succeed one day. Until then, I wouldn't mind these fun days continuing.
—————
I think this may be my favourite chapter so far. What are your thoughts on it?
I also changed the cover. Hopefully this time to stay, we'll see xD
Vote & Comment! <3