Third Person
"So," Yaku smiled as they all piled out of the cafeteria after the grandest breakfast Cosette has ever had. "How was it? Your seventeenth birthday party."
"More like... my ninth," the blonde said wryly. "But it was... well... it means a lot."
"Ninth?"
"I haven't celebrated since then."
Yaku knew that tone of voice well, and he didn't press any further. He didn't dare.
"Cosette-chan~!"
The said blonde turned at the familliar voice. "Ah, Naomi."
"I'll go ahead, alright? Happy birthday, Konimi-san!" Yaku smiled at her, then took after his team. "Matte! Don't just leave me!"
"You're the one who decided to spend some alone time with your beloved!" Kuroo called, barely glancing back. "Your fault!"
The libero groaned, completely red. "Idiot! I did not! And Cos---Konimi is, for goodness sake, just a friend!"
Cosette held back a smile at his seemingly flustered state; he was so easy for Kuroo to provoke.
Naomi caught up to her. "I know we weren't all able to get your gifts so suddenly, but Ayame-chan, Seira-chan, and I managed to make you this. It's not much, but... happy birthday, alright?"
Cosette's eyes widened as she opened the small box to find a purple-and-black braided friendship bracelet.
"We all have one," Naomi explained, grinning.
"Thank you, Naomi... for planning this, and, well, everything. It... it means a lot."
The raven-haired girl let out a contented sigh. "I'm glad," she said. "Friends?"
Cosette paused, then slipped on the braceled. "Friends," she said quietly.
I hope the risks I'm taking are worth it, mom...
◈◈◈
"Miyahara!"
A petite girl with short milk-brown hair and round square-framed glasses looked up from her computer screen, startled. "Y-yes, Mizuki-sensei!"
"Get over here, please."
"O-of course!"
The seemingly shy girl scurried towards the strict Shinzen Production advisor, who pointed to a specific blonde annd raven-haired girl. "You'll be working on the wardrobe for these two, who are the leading female roles in the whole thing: Cosette and Eponine."
Miyahara Yume nodded.
"Girls, I will leave you with her. Introduce yourselves to each other, that is not my duty. I trust you will be well."
"Of course!" Naomi smiled. "Thank you, Mizuki-sensei!"
"Our pleasure to be working with your team," Cosette nodded her head as politely as possible.
"Yes, yes, carry on." And Mizuki-sensei left without another word.
"Ah, phew, she left!" Yume let out a sigh of relief. "She scares me half to death."
Not so shy after all... Cosette and Naomi thought.
"Is she always like that?" Naomi tilted her head.
"...yeah. A-ah! Sorry to keep you waiting or anything like that! I-I'm Miyahara Yume! Y-you know, to help you out with wardrobe and hair and makeup, and, ah, those stuff. Mainly. I think Mizuki-sensei meant I'm with you two throughout the production..." her voice trailed off. "U-um, I hope we'll get along well!" the girl bowed.
"Please take care of us," Naomi and Cosette said in unison, bowing respectfully as well.
"W-will do, ahaha..." Yume cleared her throat. "So, alright... you two, in the story, are basically fighting over the same guy you like, right? Have you me---"
The door swung open.
"Have you seen Kaito-sensei or Akiyama-sensei anywhere?!" said an out of breath Ayame. "Oh! Hi, Cosette-tan, Naomi-tan!"
"Ayame-chan! What's wrong?" Naomi frowned, as Yume was too stunned at the sudden entrance to speak.
"Himori-kun had a family emergency to attend to, apparently his mother currently has cancer, and the situation got worse. But the thing is, Imari-kun, his understudy, wasn't able to make it here in the first place. We though we'd be okay without him, so we didn't force anything out. But now we need him, and he's all the way back in Nekoma, and we don't have any extra transportation, and he wouldn't get here on time anyway, and have to get this production done in a week, and---"
"Ayame-chan! Breathe!"
"Seira met Himori-kun on his way out of the gates, she told me to go and tell the advisors. Have you seen them anywhere?"
Cosette tilted her head. "Himori-san... as in... Himori...Kiyoshi-san? Isn't he..."
"Marius!" Yume's eyes widened. "Your love interest! He's a crucial character to the plot!"
"Exactly!" Ayame cried. "We need to find a substitution who's already here."
"...can't we use the understudy for one of---" Cosette began.
"No can do," Ayame immediately shook her head. "The only male characters left that can be possibly portrayed by a young student, are Courfeyrac and Enjolras, but one understudy called in sick and couldn't make it either, and the other one, well..." her voice trailed off. "Ah, I suppose he'll be alright with it."
"Which I kind of doubt," Seira appeared behind Ayame, her arms crossed. "Furuse-san isn't exactly the type that would work for Marius. But, if we have no other option, then, he'll have to do."
"What's the big crowd here?" came a familliar voice.
Ayame and Seira turned around. "Akiyama-sensei!"
"S-sensei! Himo--"
"Himori Kiyoshi? Yes, I know. He left." the music club advisor sighed. "And no, Furuse-san isn't up for it, I already know."
"I don't see why not!" Naomi frowned a little. "Marius is one of the important characters. It could---"
"I don't know why either, but he flat out said during his audition that he would never take the role of Marius, final."
"But---"
"He hates the character."
There was a short pause, and Yume spoke up. "W-well... doesn't that mean..."
"Yeah. If it doesn't work out," Naomi frowned, "we'll have to ask someone from..."
"...the volleyball teams," Cosette finished quietly.
"And they seem so focused on their matches," Ayame sighed. "I'd hate to pull out someone from there..."
"Well, it's our only choice if we want to start today. Any preferences?" Akiyama-sensei asked.
Kenma already knows the plot... but I don't think he'd be up for acting, and I don't know if he can sing... Cosette's thoughts trailed off.
"Well..." Seira eyed the two female leads. "I think I might actually have a hunch who would be perfect for that role."
Cosette and Naomi exchanged glances.
"I just don't know if he'll be able to do it."
◈◈◈
"Ano, Kuroo-san!" Seira called.
She had gotten used to his presence, and, although she had stopped tripping over most of her words, she was still extremely nervous and self-conscious around him. She hastily wrung her hands. "Can I, um, talk to you for a minute...?"
"Sure thing, Onishi-chan~" the middle-blocker jogged over to her. "Stopped stuttering, I see. So what is it?"
Seira fought down a blush, taking a deep breath. "Well, uh... are these matches, um, really really important?"
Kuroo tilted his head slightly to the side.
"Our cast had some issues, and we need a replacement for one of the main male roles... but, um, the understudies can't do it, and, uh... can we use one of your starting members...?"
"Starting members? On my team?" Kuroo blinked. "For the musical?"
"Y-yeah..." Seira shifted her weight awkwardly from one foot to the other.
"Well... who exactly do you want? If it's Lev---"
"No, no, not Haiba-kun. Ah, your libero. Yaku-san?"
There was a pause.
"Yaku? Ehh~ will you be needing him for the whole week?"
"K-kind of... maybe... I-I don't... really... know..."
"He's quite important for our team..."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Seira sighed. "But he'd be perfect for the role!"
"And why exactly?"
"W-well... it's just... his character is the love interest of both Cosette and Naomi's characters, see, and---"
Kuroo smirked. "And you think the starring actresses actually like him for real?"
"Exactly!" Seira nodded.
"Hmm~ you have a good eye, Onishi-chan~"
"So... will you let him take the role?"
"I have to check with both him and the coach, but I'm definitely okay with it; we've trained Shibayama anyway."
Seira smiled.
◈◈◈
"This is so sudden! Why do I have to---"
"Get in there, you'll be fine!"
"M-Morisuke-kun?!" Naomi's eyes widened as the libero stumbled in.
"Yaku-san?" Cosette frowned a little, turning around at Naomi's somewhat frantic voice. "Why are you...?"
"Geh! H-hey, you can't just come in here---" Yume began, about to push him out of the room.
"He's your replacement," Seira cut in, arms folded as she entered after him, "for Marius."
Yume froze, blinking rapidly. "H-him?"
"E-eh?!!" Naomi cried.
"...really? Do you know the storyline?" Cosette looked directly at Yaku, eyes narrowed slightly.
"Yeah, actually..." he looked away awkwardly. "Us third years know it. We did a book report on it in literature class, so..."
"M-Mori-kun, you can't... sing... properly..." Naomi bit her lip.
"Really?" Seira turned to him.
"Well... I'm not that good at it, but I guess I'm alright...?"
"We can solve that through editing," Seira waved it away. "He's the replacement and that's final, I talked to Kuroo and the coaches about it, and Ayame talked to the advisors about it. It's settled. Have fun, Marius."
And she walked out of the room.
"Wha---ugh." Yaku let out a defeated sigh. "This is all so sudden..."
"W-well then!" Yume cleared her throat. "I guess you're with me, too... I'm Miyahara Yume, a producer from Shinzen."
"Nice to meet you," Yaku smiled kindly.
Naomi cleared her throat. "S-so! Problem solved! Mori-kun is Marius! What do we do?"
"Well..." the short girl looked at Naomi matter-of-factly. "We start, of course."
◈◈◈
"Cut! Please do that scene again, from the top!" Kaito-sensei sighed. "Naomi, you're doing great. But Cosette, you're not expressing any emotion at all. Your character is in love at this point! Portray it! Especially through the song!"
Cosette sighed. "Sorry..."
She was supposed to act in love, and yet, she has never felt it before. Heck, she had forgotten what love even was.
It's been years since I've properly interacted with anyone, and now... I'm expected to know what it feels like to be in love?
Naomi, sensing her discomfort, made a move. "Kaito-sensei! What about we take a break? We've done most of the scenes involving the three of us. Maybe Cosette-chan just needs to think things through."
"Naomi. Yaku doesn't really have all the time in the---"
"Kuroo-san and Nekomata-sensei said it was okay!" Naomi argued.
The drama club advisor sighed, giving in. "Alright. But Cosette, I expect that to be nailed down perfectly the next time we film!"
Cosette merely nodded, although her eyes showed nothing but discontent.
Love. Emotions. Feelings. How would I know?
"Hey, Konimi-san..."
"What?"
Yaku winced at Cosette's sharp reply, and the latter retraced her steps. "...Sorry, I'm not really---"
"It's alright, it's alright, I understand."
There was a pause.
"So... how do I say this... you, ah, don't really have experience, do you? With love?"
"No," Cosette mumbled out a response.
"Oh... that... kind of explains it..."
"Why?" Cosette looked up. "Have you?"
"I, uh..." Yaku sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not... really sure..."
Ah... it must be Naomi... Cosette thought, then shook her head rapidly. It shouldn't bother me.
"It case you don't really know, Cosette-chan," Naomi bounced over.
Speak of the devil.
"Love is a wonderful feeling~"
The blonde raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
"See, you kind of feel like you're floating, and you don't have a care in the world. If you're head-over-heels over someone... that person is the world to you. Your light, kind of."
"So I'm supposed to act... happy...?" Cosette tilted her head.
"Eh? Not necessarily..." Naomi thought for a moment. "Cosette-chan, do you really have no feelings of attachment towards Mori-kun whatsoever?"
"E-eh?! What---" Yaku began, wide-eyed, but she gave him a look.
Cosette pursed her lips, turning her full attention to her classmate. "Depends on what you mean by that," she said plainly.
"Romantically."
"Naomi!" Yaku cried. "You really don't have to---"
"...no," Cosette said quietly. "I do not."
Yaku-san is merely a friend. I can't possibly.
Naomi peered at her. "Are you 100% sure---"
"Sh-she said she doesn't already! Don't bring me into this!" Yaku was frantic at the moment, noticing Cosette's growing irritation.
"Alright, alright, alright, sorry!" Naomi sighed. "I don't know how you can portray Cosette's---that is, the character's---love for Marius, then, because I think you mainly have to have some connection with the actor, at least..."
"Well, we're friends," Cosette stated simply.
"That's different, though! It's not---"
"I know. I told you, I have no idea what it's like."
"How about your mom and dad?" Naomk suggested.
Cosette pursed her lips at the mention of her parents, and Yaku was quick to notice.
Although the libero didn't know why the atmosphere around her completely changed, he didn't like it. He hated seeing her in that state.
"It must be hard if you don't know what love is like," he said quietly, "but we'll figure this out, okay?"
"I suggest you two bond a little more," Kaito-sensei sighed, going over to them. "Cosette, you can't just sing a song, especially if it's about love, without feeling. I understand you've never experienced it before, but I need you to try, or it will appear flat."
"Bond...?" Naomi tilted her head, then grinned. "Yea~h! That's a great idea! Why don't you spend the rest of today together?"
"Precisely," the drama club advisor nodded. "It might not get Cosette anywhere close to love, considering the fact that, in the first place, you don't seem that close, but at least you'll get a closer bond. It wouldn't appear like such a flat scene."
"Th-the whole day...?" Yaku chewed on his bottom lip nervously as he glanced at the half-Japanese.
Sure, they had gotten a little closer the last few days, but Cosette was still quite cautious around him, and he knew it wasn't going to be easy.
"Yeah! Why not? It's your birthday, anyway, Cosette-chan~"
"We can record this scene tomorrow. We'll work on others that don't have you in it while you go with him."
Cosette was very taken-aback by the whole idea, and she felt quite hesitant about it.
Well, at least I'm not off the cast...
"W-well..." Yaku awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "If Konimi-san is okay with it..."
Cosette looked at him, sighing. "Alright."
And Kaito-sensei smiled. "Great. Off you two go. You can go out of the campus if you need to, just inform one of us, okay?"
"Have fun~!" Naomi waved cheerfully.
But Cosette looked straight at her, but she saw something hidden behind that smile---a little pinch of regret. And she instantly knew what it meant.
Ah, of course, I should have expected it. The blonde turned away. I wonder if this is really okay with her.
◈◈◈
♪i never meant to break your heart, i wont let this plane go down--
*slapped*
Okay y'all, so, singing aside...
I have just prESENTED TO YOU LATE UPDATE #I-DONT-EVEN-KNOW.
sorry. i said id update more frequently, but the timing of this virus i have is probably one of the worst. i had a huge headache, and it really didn't help me write much, so i'm sorry if this is ,once again, too short.
Anyway--- this is dedicated to the one and onlyyy: MintyYuki!♥ youve been supporting me since day one and it seriously means a lot that youve stuck around yknw just ilysm thank youu!!
And also, to all you readers out there thank you as well, i swear ily guys, dont forget that okay? All of your support always makes my day, it means a lot, really ♡
~Peri-chan