Word Count : 2825
We were all set up and the play was about to start. Since this was different from the original story of Cinderella, the title of the play was called 'Something like Cinderella.'. The auditorium was already filled up with people ready to watch the play. The talking died down when the lights turned off and the spotlights turned on. It pointed at our narrator who was off to the side of the stage, everyone's attention was now focused on the stage.
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Cinderella. For reasons we won't get into, Cinderella was constantly tormented by her stepmother and stepsisters." As he spoke the curtains of the stage revealed the backdrop to the town where the story takes place. "Despite that, she had a pure heart, and she lived with virtue and humility." Tohru and I followed Minami as we made our way across the stage.
"Cinderella? Where did you go Cinderella? Have you finished sewing our Cinderella dresses? The castle ball is tonight you know!" Minami called in a cruel voice playing her role as the evil stepmother.
"I'm right here." Hanajima responded, sitting on the stage floor sipping at a cup of tea.
"Why are you just sitting there sipping tea?! You'd better have the dresses finished if you're taking a break already!"
"M-Mother..." Tohru stuttered her lines in character.
"You can't possibly expect an amature like me to make a decent dress. But if you want to look ridiculous at the ball, that's your business. I won't stop you." Hanajima explained.
"I have no choice you little brat! It's how the story goes!" Minami told her.
"Mother, why don't we stop yelling at Cinderella?" I suggested.
"Anyway, dear Sisters, won't you have some tea with me?" Hanajima offered, pointing to the other cups of tea.
"May I?" Tohru asked as she took her spot next to Hanajima.
"Thank you." I say sitting down as well.
"Hey! Now you're all just leisurely sipping tea! This story will go nowhere unless you take this seriously!" Minami yelled
"The castle ball was that night. It was rumoured that the prince was using the ball to find a bride, and the stepmother was eager to have one of her daughters to marry into the rich family. So she herself could live a good life." The Narrator explained.
"What are you so happy about?! You leave me no choice then! Come here!" She takes each of her arms and wraps it around Tohru and I, dragging us away from Hanajima. "If you ever want to see your precious sisters again, you'd better get to work on those dresses." And with that we left the stage.
"Sister!" Hanajima called out. "This is terrible. My beloved sisters have been taken from me just because some prince wanted to have a ball. I'll make him pay."
"And just like that, Cinderella had fallen in love with the prince who she had never met." the narrator explained.
"Then I must sneak into the castle... But I have yet to finish the dresses. What shall I do?" She asked herself.
"It'll be okay. Worry not, Cinderella. Yuki said entering the stage. He was dressed in a flowing blue outfit and a headdress. The odd thing was that he was holding a wooden broom which looked odd and out of place. The spotlight turned on him and a large part of the girls in the audience started taking photos.
"Please refrain from excessive flash photography!" The narrator called out to the audience.
"I'm your fairy godmother."
"No offence, but that's a pretty lacklustre introduction." Hanajima stated.
"Kind hearted Cinderella, I will grant you one wish tonight." Yuki told her.
"Oh, how lovely. Please burn the ballroom to ashes." She wished.
"That would be a crime. Try again with a kinder, purer wish."
"Pure?" she paused for a moment and thought about it before answering. "I wish to eat yakiniku."
"That's not what I meant."
"Cinderella!" Minami yelled. She walked back onto the stage still dragging Tohru and I with her.
"Oh, no it's my stepmother."
"Surely you've finished the dresses by now!" Minami said. Next to Hanajima a group of three dresses had been placed next to her. One yellow, one pink and the last one in purple. "Oh, you've actually finished them? Did you really make them yourself?"
"Well-"
"Cinderella, you're amazing! These dresses are lovely! You're so talented." Tohru smiled.
"Thank you. I'm glad you like my handmade dresses." Hanajima said, taking all the credit.
"Never mind that. Let us get changed and go." Minami said and once again we were dragged off stage so we could change costumes.
"Good job, Fairy Godmother."
"Dare I ask? Now it's your turn Cinderella. Go ahead. Tell me your wish."
"Yakiniku-"
"Sounds good! You'll head straight to the ball in a pumpkin carriage." Yuki interrupts her before she could answer completely.
"And thus, thanks to the fairy godmother's adherence to the story, Cinderella was able to attend the ball." As the narrator spoke the background changed. Instead of showing the small town it was now showing the inside of a castle. Many people stood around dancing as Uotani and Kyo stood off to the side.
"Wip that pouty look off your face. We're having this shindig just for you. Go find yourself a maiden." Uotani told Kyo. Both of them were dressed as royals and Uotani was playing his friend.
"Find one yourself. I'm not interested."
"It's really no wonder you're still a virgin." She commented.
"You can't just blurt things out like that! Have you no shame?!" Kyo shouted going red at her comment. "You oughta run to the store and buy some dignity!"
"Maybe you should go to the store and buy some gratitude."
"Despite the friendly encouragement from a fellow royal, the prince stubbornly refused to dance." One by one different female students went up to him asking for a dance.
"Prince, will you-"
"No." Kyo refused.
"Prince, please dance-" The next girl asked.
"No." He repeated.
"Be my partner-"
"No! Go find someone else to dance with!"
"Prince, do you-" Tohru tried asking.
"No." I made my way over since Iwas supposed to ask him as well.
"Prince, will you please-"
"I said I won't dance!" He turned and yelled at me. I was a little shocked that he had yelled but played along with it.
"Alright, please excuse me." I said and started walking off.
"Wai-"
"Needless to say, he curtly refused the stepsisters as well." The narrator interrupted, staring at Kyo. "He refused."
"What the hell am I doing?" Kyo grumbled.
"Now you're looking depressed for real." Uotani commented.
"While the revelry of the ball grew livelier, the prince became more and more dispirited." The narrator continued.
"So this is the ball?" Hanajima said, walking onto the stage after changing into her gown.
"After much anticipation, Cinderella arrived." She was dressed in a pitch black dress with a few layers. She was completely in back with the exception of the glass sippers which kept the design of the original story.
"Wow, she's beautiful!" Tohru gasped.
"Hey, check out that lovely lady. Ask her for a spin." Uotani suggested, pointing over to Hanajima.
"No way!" Kyo shouted.
"The prince fell in love with Cinderella as soon as he laid his eyes upon her and eagerly asked her to dance."
"Why should I?!" Kyo argued.
"Because I said so." The narrator glared.
"Oh my, there's Yakiniku.'' Hanajima mumbled. She was in fact correct. A portable grill had been placed on the stage and was making yakiniku.
"Hey. Dance with me!" Kyo shouted at her.
"No."
"She refused." Kyo sighed.
"Why do you sound so relieved?" Uotani asked.
"Try again Prince."
"Easy for you to say! You have no idea how I feel."
"Shut up and get your ass back there!" Kyo caved and slowly made his way over to her.
"Uh.. hey."
"I'm busy." She responded.
"You only came here for the yakiniku, didn't you?" Kyo guessed.
"Well? What do you want?" Hanajima questioned.
"M-May we... talk?" Kyo asked her.
"Talk? Very well. There's an especially pleasant tingle about the waves this evening, don't you think?" She says.
"Please pick a topic that's not so awkward." Kyo suggested to her. After a moment the sound of a clock chiming midnight rangout.
"Oh no. I must be getting home." She places her glass shoe in the palm of Kyo's hand along with the chopsticks hse was using to eat the yakiniku. "There. You can't say I never gave you anything."
"I'm hardly on to talk, but there wasn't a speck of emotion in that line." Kyo commented as she walked off stage.
"Knowing that the spell would break after the clock struck midnight,Cinderella woefully tore herself away from the prince."
"I want some more meat." She mumbled before she was completely out of sight.
"But she left behind one of her glass slippers."
"You can use this as a lead to track her down."
"Huh? Nah, I don't wanna-" Uotani slaps him in the head with the shoe.
"You have a chance to see her again and you're just going to throw it away?!" We were fixing up the last of our costumes as Uotani talked. "Think of all the people out there who are dying to see the ones they love, but they can't! I want to see him. Come and see me, damn it!" Her voice echoed the pain and loneliness she had been feeling as she shouted into the audience.
"Who?"
"Through his friend's speech which was oddly personal, the prince nonetheless persuaded to take action. That's right, he came to an important realisation. He realised he would give anything to see her again! And so the prince travelled through the kingdom. And had all the young maidens try on the glass slipper. He knew when he found the foot it fit, he would be reunited with his love. After a long journey, he arrived at Cinderella's home."
The background went back to the town and we were each trying on the sipper.
"This slipper does not belong to me." Tohru said, removing her foot from the shoe. I walked over and repeated the same thing.
"It's not mine either."
"Are there any other fair maidens in your house?" Uotani asked.
"You won't find one, not even a mouse." Minami replied.
"Oh yeah? Let's go."
"Huh?"
"Please, wait. There's still another. Cinderella is-" I started but I was interrupted when Kyo put his hand on my mouth preventing me from speaking.
"You should've kept your big mouth shut!" Kyo complained.
"Just a minute, prince! She's supposed to say that."
"Unhand her at once." Hanajima arrived holding a plate of food as she walked over. "I won't allow anyone to harm either one of my sisters."
"Cinderella!"
"I've been expecting you. Prince, that slipper is the one I left behind. I'll take it back now." She walked closer to all of us before placing her hands on my shoulder. "I know why you're here. Have you not come to ask for my sister's hand in marriage?"
"Why am I getting dragged into this?" Kyo and I both go red at Hanajima's comment.
"W-What are you... Are you an idiot?! Of course not!" Kyo shouted at her.
"Well, that's kind of why we're here, Prince." Uotani pointed out.
"Um..."
"N-No... No! Th-That's not why I'm here!"
"What? Don't tell me you intended to propose to me? What a nightmare." Hanajima said.
"Nightmare! For me it's more like hell!" Kyo argued.
"Well then, what did you want?"
"Why don't you tell me what you want?"
"Will you ever admit the truth? Or do you intend to keep deceiving yourself for the rest of your life? Will you stay on this path? Locked in your castle all alone... Until the day you die." Hanajima said.
"So what if I do? Who would I be hurting? What happens to me is my own- '' The tone they were talking now no longer sounded like they were teasing but rather serious.
"I... I d-don't want that!" I blurted out interrupting Kyo.
When have I ever stuttered? This doesn't normally happen. Why did I just blurt that out?
"I don't... Sorry! Please forget I said anything!" I quickly said baking away from everyone. "Sorry for the interruption! Please continue the story!"
"I couldn't help but overhear." Yuki said, arriving on stage. Kyo jumped in the air, scared at his sudden appearance.
"There you are my loyal servant." Hanajima greeted.
"I'm not your servant But i do know that a marriage between you and the prince would not fare well. So let me ask you this again. What do you truly wish for?" Yuki asked.
"I want to run a yakiniku shop with my dear sisters." She replied after a moment.
"All right then. Prince, you will provide financial backing for the shop." Yuki explained.
"I thought you're the one who's granting wishes."
"Prince, I won't ask what you wish for. You must make it come true on your own." Yuki told him.
"Wh-"
"What a marvellous judgement!" The girls from the audience cheered.
"Hey!"
"Thus, though Cinderella and the prince parted ways, the yakiniku shop flourished. And Cinderella, having proven that a woman's livelihood does not depend upon marriage, lived happily ever after." The narrator finished as the curtain closed, separating us from the audience.
---
"Man it's finally over. That's the last time I ever get up on stage." Kyo stated.
"I thought you did really well." I told him. He started taking off the jacket of his costume soon followed by his shirt.
"Hey, Kyo, don't undress here." I said turning away, hiding my red face.
"I see. So you played opposite him?" A voice sounded. Both of us turned to look at the sound of the familiar voice and see Hanajima having a conversation with Kyo's master.
"Yes. I'm Saki Hanajima. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I'm Kazuma Sohma. Thank you for looking after Kyo."
"M-Master... Wh-Wh..." Kyo stutters, putting on his jacket and leaving his shirt off.
"Why hello Kyo. Nice job."
"Good job. I believe this play was successful because I had Kyo as my co-star. Thank you Kyo-kun." Hanajima smiles. "I need to get changed. I hope we meet again soon."
"Yes, see you later." Master said waving her goodbye as she walked off. "A charming classmate you have there." He commented, turning to the two of us.
"Master! Please don't marry her!" Kyo begged.
"Where did that come from? Oh, Kyo, you're still such a child." Master aughed patting Kyo on the head.
"Well, you're a clueless old man!"
"Hello, Master." I smiled.
"Oh hello, Ami. You did a good job out there as well."
"Don't tell me you actually told him about the play?!" Kyo accused, turning to look at me.
"I never told him, because you had asked me not to. I was messing around when I said I would tell him." I explained.
"Then who told you about the play-" Kyo started.
"Who could it have been?" Haru interrupted, popping out of nowhere and leaning on Master.
The mysteries have been solved.
"I can never tell if you are trying to piss me off or if it just happens by accident!" Kyo shouted, hitting Haru on the head.
"Please don't start fighting." I said but they didn't listen and Kyo had Haru in a headlock.
"I thought it would make Sensei happy." Haru explained.
"Well, it's embarrassing for me! You wouldn't want your parents seeing you like that either, for multiple reasons!"
"Let him go, Kyo. I'm going home now." Master said.
"Huh?" Kyo was silent for a moment. "W-Wait up, I'll walk you to the entrance. Let me get changed." He said quickly running off to get dressed.
---
Kisa and Hiro had come over to check out the cultural festival so Tohru and I were showing them around. At the moment I was talking with them and I was carrying food for everyone over to the bench where they were.
"Ami?" I turn to look beside me and see Kyo.
"Kyo! Hello!" I smiled.
"Why do you have so much food?" He asked, looking at my arms full of boxes and drinks.
"Kisa and Hiro are visiting the festival and Tohru's keeping them company so I thought I would go get food for everyone." It was silent after I answered.
"Uh.."
"Isn't the festival fun? Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Yeah. got the crapped scared out of me, though." He said taking a few of the boxes from my hands, making it easier for me to carry what I had.
"You mean when Master showed up?"
"Yeah." I was quietly thinking back to the pay when I blurted out that I didn't want Kyo to be alone.
I won't... let myself think about it.