You're walking down one of the long hallways in the school. Trey and Riddle on either side of you and you hold Grim in your arms. You run into Cater and Lilia in the hallway.
"Hey, Trey! Hey, Riddle!" Cater waves. "What's the haps? I saw a group of guys wearing your collars earlier. You sure aren't wasting any time!"
"More like the troublemakers aren't wasting any time." Trey adjusts his glasses. "Are you and Lilia about to make your Pop Music Club presentation?"
Lilia nods. "Yes. It's a far cry from the glamour of the SDC, but the Pop Music Club is throwing a concert of its own, and we'll be in it."
"Trey gets snapped up by Riddle, and Kalim gets snapped up by Vil." Cater sighs dramatically. "Cay-Cay's all left out!"
Trey shake his head. "I've told you before that I'm terrible at dancing and singing."
"What's the matter, Cater? Am I not sufficient company for you?" Lilia teases.
"Oh, far from it! I know you're gonna kill it out there, Lilia. Just keep the improv dialed down for this, okay?" Cater laughs.
Lilia turns his crimson eyes to you. "Ah, Y/N. I understand you gave him an invitation to the SDC in return for his holiday greeting card?"
You nod. "That's right. He seemed pretty happy about it."
"He may not have said as much, but he was over the moon about it." Lilia places a hand to his chest and bows his head. "I'm grateful as well. Thank you for going out of your way to invite him."
"Ooh, what's this?" Cater plays with a strand of his hair. "You've got a Diasomnia bud now, Y/N?"
"I don't know his name, but he's tall and has horns on his head." You inform.
The Heartslabyul boys freeze, their eyes wide.
Trey looks to Riddle. "A guy with horns? And he goes to our school?"
Riddle nods. "There's only one person I know who fits that description..."
Lilia folds his arms. "Let's not get distracted, Cater. We'll be late if we don't get to the stage soon."
Cater shakes himself out of his stupor. "Oh, uh, you're right."
"We'll be taking our leave, then." Lilia smiles to you. "May your SDC show be a successful one, Y/N."
You smile. "Thank you."
"Oh yes, it's almost noon. Y/N, shouldn't you and Grim be getting to the SDC rehearsal?" Riddle asks.
Grim's eyes widen. "Myah! That's right! If we're late, Vil's gonna make us drink cursed juice!"
"We've gotten tickets from Ace, too." Trey looks to you with a smile. "Break a leg out there. We'll be cheering for you."
Riddle nods. "Tell our freshmen that if they embarrass themselves on stage, it's off with their heads."
You can't help but laugh. "I'll pass it on."
You're back in the coliseum and see the stage completely finished. The stage looks incredible. The screen lights up with the SDC logo. Little sparkles shimmer in the background.
"Wow, they were workin' hard on this stage the last time we came by, and now it's totally finished." Grim marvels.
You see the press everywhere setting up for the performance. A bunch of cameras are set up and pointed at the stage. You start to feel slightly nervous.
"Hey, you two!"
You turn to see a couple film crew members approach you.
"SDC rehearsals are starting soon."
"This place is off-limits to the general public. Out you go."
You set Grim down. "Wait, I-"
"Excuse me."
You hear a familiar voice. You're thankful to see Vil walking towards you.
"That spudling and beast are part of our production team. Can't you see their staff passes?"
"V-Vil Schoenheit? Pardon me."
The film crew guys leave and go back to whatever they were working on. Vil turns to you with a smirk. "Bold of you to arrive last, little flower."
You sheepishly laugh. "Guess I'm fashionably late?"
Vil rolls his eyes but you thought you saw him smile. Vil leads you to where the others wait by the stage. Grim trots along next to you.
Rook smile when he sees you. "Did you take in the sights and sounds of the festival?"
You nod. "It's pretty incredible."
"You guys oughta see the line of people outside the coliseum waitin' for same-day tickets." Grim throws his paws in the air. "It's nuts!"
"Really?" Kalim asks. "Well, it's nice to know people are excited."
"There's a lot of reporters and cameras as well." Jamil says. "We can chalk that up to Vil and Neige, I'm sure."
Grim looks to the Heartslabyul boys. "Oh yeah. Ace, Deuce, Epel. Riddle and Jack both said if you guys screw this up, you're really gonna be in for it!"
"I'm sure they were only joking." You try to reassure them. It didn't seem to work.
Panic flashes through Deuce's eyes. "Please, I don't need any more pressure."
"N-now I'm getting nervous..." Epel holds an arm.
Ace steps forward. "We've got three hours from now until the show. There's no sense in tensing up now."
Vil nods. "Agreed. Our rehearsal time is there to ensure we don't make any mistakes at showtime.
SDC tradition dictates that the host school's team performs first. Let's make our act so hard to follow that everyone who comes after us looks like moldy tubers in comparison."
"Vil?"
Everyone turns around to see a boy with black hair and pale skin. He wears the Royal Sword Academy jacket and a yellow and blue sweater underneath. The boy cheerfully waves.
"I knew it! Hi, Vil!"
Vil clutches his fists. "Neige..."
"It's been forever! How've you been? When I heard on the news that you'd be in this year's Song & Dance Championship, I just couldn't wait to see you in person!"
"So that's Neige LeBlanche." Epel whispers.
Ace nods. "No wonder he's a household name. Even the way he walks and talks is perfectly choreographed."
Deuce hums. "He looks nice enough... But he's not giving off that same intense aura that Schoenheit did, the first time we met."
"True." Kalim agrees. "He doesn't have much of a glamorous vibe."
"His smile is entirely unlike Vil's." Rook observes. "It is unaffected, like a tiny flower blooming in an open field."
Jamil rolls his eyes. "The more innocuous someone looks, the worse they're likely to act behind the scenes. That's how entertainers are."
Grim quirks an eye at Jamil. "Like you have any room to talk."
Neige smiles brightly. "I haven't seen you much on the job since we filmed that last movie together. I've missed you, Vi!"
"I'm trying to focus on school right now. So I'm avoiding movie deals with long filming periods." Vil folds his arms.
"Oh, that makes sense. I'm just happy I get to hear you sing again today, Vi." Neige bounces in his toes. "Your voice is absolutely incredible, after all! The first thing we co-starred in was a musical drama set in a school, right?"
"Just so." Vil nod. "You played the star, and I played the student bullying you. They were perfect roles... For you and me both."
Neige glances over to you. "Why, hello! I didn't know that Night Raven is letting girls attend the school."
You shrug. "I'm more of an acceptation."
"Well, it's still wonderful to meet you." Neige bounds over to you. "I'm Neige LeBlanche."
"I'm Y/N. It's nice to finally meet you in person."
Vil narrows his eyes at the sight of Neige being so close to you. He doesn't understand why but he doesn't like the thought of Neige stealing you away.
"Maybe after the performance, would you, uh, what I mean is..." Neige rubs his arm as he looks away bashfully. "Would you like to check out the festival with me?"
You smile warmly. "Of course I-"
Vil appears behind you and places his hands to your shoulders, dragging you away from Neige. "I'm afraid Y/N will be occupied. She is the team manager after all."
"Oh, well," Neige holds his hands behind his back and smiles. "Whenever you have a moment to spare, I'd love to walk around the festival with you, Y/N"
You nod. "Yeah. That would be fun."
"Excuse me, Night Raven College entrants." A staff member approaches. "It's time for your rehearsal. Please stand by."
Vil nods. "If you'll excuse us, Neige."
"Sure!" Neige smiles brightly. "I'm looking forward to your performance."
Vil ushers you to follow the others. He glares back at Neige once he's backstage. "Keep wearing that oblivious smile while you still can. Our flawless performance will crush you, completely and utterly."