"O-Okazaki-san?"
I turned to find Furukawa staring up at me with puppy-dog eyes, and found myself wishing that Ryou had stuck around rather than going to lunch with her sister. "Wh-What's up?"
She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she knotted her fingers repeatedly. "We have a play that w-we'd like to do for the festival, but...but..."
"'But' what?" I prompted.
Furukawa suddenly grabbed onto my arm. "We...We need a boy for one of the roles, but all we have a-are girls."
"So have one of them cross-dress," I said. "They do that in real theater, don't they?"
"That's true, b-but..." She started fidgeting again. "N-None of us are comfortable doing a romantic role with another girl."
"You're doing a romantic play?" I blurted. "That's pretty gutsy for you, Furukawa! Good job!"
"The play isn't romantic!" she cried, latching onto me again. "It's just...one scene."
I looked at her in disbelief. "You're telling me that none of you can suck it up and cross-dress for one romantic scene?" I had a feeling where this was going, but I was going to run from it as long as I could.
She averted her gaze to the floor. "We-We can't."
I sighed. "And you don't have any other plays you could do?"
She shook her head. "Ichika-san's working on a screenplay, but we don't have enough time to finish it and rehearse and everything." She looked up at me with puppy-dog eyes again, and I knew exactly what she was going to ask. "Would...Would you be willing to be play the man's role? You wouldn't have many lines, and it wouldn't take much of your time."
I sighed again, more heavily this time. "You're asking a lot of me this time, Furukawa. I'm already Ryou's boyfriend, and you're asking me to pretend to be someone else's love interest?"
She nodded before looking at the floor again.
"Who's playing the girl that this guy's supposed to be talking to?"
She answered so quietly I had to ask her to repeat herself. "Me," she finally answered meekly.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I smelled a rat, but was sure that Furukawa wasn't a man-stealer, so... "Look, I'll talk with Ryou about this, but only because you asked. Honestly, I think you should find another guy to do this, one who's not seeing anyone." I sighed again. "I'll talk to her, but don't expect a 'yes', you understand?"
She said nothing but nodded quickly.
I managed a smile as she scooted off yet again; it took a lot of courage for her to approach me about this, me being someone's boyfriend...and being Okazaki Tomoya, for that matter.
***
"She...She did?!" Ryou squeaked. "She couldn't find anyone else?"
"I told her that she should find another guy for the part, but...I think she asked me because of our friendship...and desperation. I think we have a couple of options." I started counting off on my fingers, "One: We tell her 'no', and that's that. Two: We tell her 'yes', but only on the condition that you're there for every practice and performance. I don't want to give you a reason to doubt me."
"I-I'd never doubt you, Tomoya-kun!"
I rested a hand on her head. "Thanks cutie, but I'd rather not take that risk."
"I think...I think...you should h-help her as m-much as p-possible," she said, to my surprise.
"You sure?"
She nodded, but her expression didn't quite match her behavior. I didn't want to second-guess her though, so... "All right," I said with resignation. "I'll give her the green-light. I'm not really comfortable about this, but she needs the help and you'll be there, so..." I sighed, trying to expel the bad feeling in my gut.
***
"'You...are...the...delicate...flower that shines...in the darkest night..."
"That was really bad, Okazaki-senpai," Narita giggled. "You sound like the Zombie Prince or something."
"Now, that's not very nice," Furukawa scolded as the girls giggled. "Okazaki-san is giving his time to us, so we need to be grateful and encouraging." She walked up to me with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Okazaki-san; I know you're doing your best."
"I just feel awkward," I said, holding up the sheet. "I mean, this isn't the way I talk."
"It's hard pretending to be someone else, isn't it?" she asked with a warm smile. "But, once you get it, it feels...freeing."
I glared at my lines again, then looked over at Ryou and had a flash of intuition. "Let me try something..."
Ryou looked up at me as I approached her. "Tomoya-kun, is something wrong?"
I held the page so I could see her past the words and tried reading again: "You are the delicate flower that shines in the darkest night. Your loveliness is greater than that of the angels. My heart swells at the sound of your voice, my dearest, and know that I wish to be forever yours."
When my focus shifted from the sheet to my girl's face, her hands covered her mouth, and there were tears in her eyes. "T-Tomoya-kun..."
"R-Ryou? Are you okay? I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"
"That...That was beautiful, Okazaki-s-senpai," Ichika said, while wiping her eyes. Several of the other girls were also wiping at their eyes with their sleeves.
"Th-That t-took me by surprise," Narita agreed.
"Thanks, girls," I said, then turned toward Furukawa. "Well, is that good enough for-"
The Theater Club president stood before me with her clasped hands pressed against her chest, trembling, with tears pooling in her eyes. "O-O-Okaza...ki..."
I quickly put myself next to my girlfriend, resting my hand on her shoulder. "So, it m-meets with your approval, then?"
She simply nodded as tears trickled down her cheeks.
I sighed noisily between my lips. "So...day after tomorrow?"
Another nod.
I smiled self-consciously as I helped Ryou to her feet. "Well...later, then." I waved as she gave them a small bow.
What an awkward rehearsal.
***
Ryou seemed lost in thought as we headed to her place.
"What's up?" I asked. "Look, if you're not comfortable with me being in the play, just say so and I'm out."
She looked up at me, and I could see the pain on her face as clear as day. "I-It's not the play..."
"Well, you look upset about something. What's going on?"
"I-I just have some things...to work out..."
"Well, let me help you work them out. Don't do this by yourself."
"I-I'm okay...I-I'm sure it's nothing...I'm probably just overthinking it."
"Overthinking what?" For the first time in our relationship I was starting to lose patience with her, and I stopped her with my hands on her shoulders. "Stop leaving me in the dark! I want to help you, but I can't if you won't talk to me!" I suddenly felt dizzy as I felt a sense of déjà vu, remembering a similar conversation with Kyou. "Wha...?"
"Tomoya-kun! Are you okay?" I faintly heard Ryou's panicked voice and felt arms around me, which helped bring me back to reality.
I shook my head several times to clear it. "It was weird, cutie; it was like a memory of something I didn't do."
"M-Maybe you're tired," she said. "M-Maybe we should take you home, first; I can walk home by myself."
"No. No, I'm fine," I asserted. "I'm fine now. Let's, um...get you home, okay?"
***
I felt another sense of déjà vu when Kyou came out the front door of her home. "Welcome home, Ryou. Hey, Tomoya."
"Hey Cupid," I said, raising my free hand in greeting and trying to ignore a 'memory' of her in a purple bikini.
Kyou took hold of my other arm. "You gonna stay a while? I made another batch of cookies!"
"Onee-chan...he's had a really long day..."
"Aw, come on, Ryou! He'll be fine after he eats! Besides, you want him to stay, don't you?"
"O-Of course..."
"Then it's decided!" the older twin declared as she proceeded to drag me into their home.
I ended up going home feeling bloated again.