"Are you joking? We're like ten minutes away from the advertised starting time and we got a crowd full of people out there waiting for us!"
"Yeah! My mom brought my three younger brothers and those little demons can't sit still for long!"
Sakaki held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, don't be yelling at me! My family's out there too! I'm just the messenger. All I know is that the principal wants us to drop everything and go set up a special viewing area in the gym for the superintendent and a bunch of his equally high status buddies who showed up out of the blue to see our show."
Arisa's complexion paled. Why would those people be here?
"Talk about a load of unnecessary pressure." Kiri's characteristically dry delivery made her voice distinctive from the clamour. "If we screw up this performance won't the principal be angry enough to eat us all alive?"
"Oi! Don't say stuff like that, Suzumori! Now you've got me freaking out!"
"It's true, isn't? Didn't you see how much effort she put into the school's seventy-fifth founding anniversary celebration because she knew that one dignitary was coming? This time there's even more than one of them. If this performance turns out to be anything less than phenomenal, we're finished."
"So we'll just give them a phenomenal performance. Problem solved."
All eyes in the room landed on Shizuka who was projecting an air of relaxed confidence. "Why should we be panicked? We gave a stellar performance yesterday and we'll do it again today."
"...I see you're as unflappable as ever, Shizuka-chan."
"I just trust in the abilities of everyone in our class. If it's us, the class that is more united and hardworking than any other, then isn't it guaranteed that the show will be a surefire success no matter who's in attendance?" Her tone was light but the conviction behind her words was unquestionable.
A minute later, Hayato eagerly thumped his chest. "Yoshino, your words are as cocky as hell but I like 'em! Good job! That's exactly what we all needed to hear right now! If it's 3-A, then we can do anything!"
"Hell yeah!"
"Preach!"
"Awesome!" effused Sakaki. Now who's free to go move tables and chairs down from the storage room with me?"
Several hands shot up including Shizuka's. "I'll go."
"I'll go too."
Shizuka peered at Madoka who had volunteered as soon as she did. "Wouldn't your dress just get in the way of heavy lifting?"
"I could hitch it up."
The corners of Shizuka's lips twitched. Well, that was one certainly sentence I'd never thought I'd hear from him.
"What about your wig? Don't you still need to get that fitted?"
Madoka's slightly pushed his bottom lip forward to form an adorably pouty expression. Because he didn't like wearing the long, heavy, and curly haired wig that was a part of his costume for any longer than necessary, since the dress rehearsals he had insisted on waiting until the last possible second before having it fitted.
"That's what I thought." Shizuka patted his head. "Be good. I'll be back soon."
"Alright," he replied sulkily. After a beat, his tone became more serious as he added, "Remember to be careful as you're moving things, okay?"
"Okay." Shizuka nodded helplessly. She had a feeling that she knew what was coming next.
"Don't strain yourself either. Make sure you get other people to carry the heavier tables. Take only the lightest chairs."
"Okay." Yup, there it is. Mother Madoka is online.
"If you lose your grip on something, make sure it falls away from you...Oh, and you'll still need to be covered up." Madoka ran to the costume rack and pulled out a large hooded black coat. Then, he personally helped her wear it so that most of her face and costume were concealed. "There."
"Shizuka-chan, are you coming?" Yuki and a few others waved at her from outside the door.
Shizuka craned her neck to look at them. "Yeah, I'm coming! Just give me thirty seconds!"
"Okay, well we're going on ahead!"
"Okay!"
Shizuka turned back to Madoka with a wry smile. "You heard that, mom? Thirty seconds to say your last words. Well, it's a little less than thirty now."
"...Mom?" repeated Madoka unhappily.
"You don't think that you always send me off like a worried mother on her child's first day of kindergarten?"
"You tease me for being like them but I don't think that their fears are unwarranted. The world out there is dangerous." Madoka frowned. "Maybe you shouldn't go after all. Our fans could still be running amok and they have enough people helping already."
"You have to let the baby birds venture out of the nest at some point, Madoka."
She squinted as she looked in a certain corner of the room. "It looks like Megu-chan's trying to get your attention so I guess it's time for you to don those beautiful synthetic tresses. Don't worry. I'll be careful. I promise. I'll see you in a bit, hm?"
After Madoka acquiesced, Shizuka ran out in pursuit of her classmates.
A while later when they were all gathered in the storage room, the principal, a steely looking woman, militaristically directed people to dust, sanitize, then carry the nicest tables and chairs that they had towards the gym. Since the school was crowded with students and visitors, this task ended up being more arduous to accomplish than they had anticipated; therefore, when they finally managed to deliver the last piece of furniture, as a group they all rushed to the washrooms to wash their sweaty faces and dusty hands.
On their way back to the gym, Shizuka was discussing ways that they could apologize to Megu for accidentally rubbing off all of the makeup that she had applied with the group.
"Maybe there's a chance she won't even notice," said Yuki. "I don't think I did until you pointed it out. Aren't our faces pretty the same with or without makeup?"
The girls in the group all stopped to stare at him with varying expressions.
"...I really can't tell if those poor observational skills of yours will help you or harm you when you find a girlfriend later, Yuki-kun."
"I guess it would have to depend on whether his future girlfriend could tolerate dense guys."
"Eh???"
Before he could ask them to explain what they had meant, a classmate called out to Shizuka. "Yoshino-san, do you know where they put that box filled of fancy tablecloths in the computer lab? Sensei said we need them for the tables you guys brought over but when I went in there, I couldn't find them."
Shizuka thought for a moment. "I think I might've seen that box when I was helping Towa-sensei. Should I try to go find it?"
"Could you please?"
"Of course. I'll go now."
The classmate seemed hesitant. "Do you mind if I don't go with you? I know it's rude to just dump this chore on you and go but I kinda have something else that I need to take care of right now."
"Not at all." She waved her hand dismissively. "You go ahead. It's not like retrieving a box of tablecloths is a job that requires more than one person."
Then, after receiving the classmate's thanks, Shizuka bounded off.
A few minutes later she arrived on the second floor, but before she could even fix her eyes on the computer lab, she and everyone else in the hallway was startled by a deafeningly loud procession of costumed animal mascots that suddenly appeared on the scene.
Two rabbits, one dinosaur, threes dogs, one octopus, one frog, three deer, one dragon, two ducks, two sheep, one panda, and two giraffes—they were a most unlikely assortment of animals. Yet, somehow there they were, marching in loosely organized rows with bright eyes and even brighter smiles directly sewn onto their plush faces.
As they marched down the hall, their hands–or rather their paws, tentacles, hooves, and wings–were busily moving nonstop as some were waving and blowing kisses, some were banging against drums and cymbals, some were throwing colourful bits of confetti and wrapped candies into the air, and some were wheeling a 1.5 meter tall gift box forward as if it were a shrunken parade float.
As the procession got closer and closer, the overlapping sounds of the cheery children's music that they were blasting on portable speakers and the clanging of instruments dramatically increased in volume.
Of all the spectators that were present, the younger children adapted the quickest and soon, dozens of chortling children sprang towards the procession to pounce on their favourite mascot character while others hungrily dove to snatch fallen pieces of candies off of the floor.
As anxious parents rushed out to collect their overzealous offsprings, someone elbowed Shizuka into the surging crowd.
Shizuka wriggled fiercely as she tried to resist the momentum of the crowd pushing her towards the procession but her resistance was futile and in an instant, she was swept all the way to the feet of one of the two rabbit mascots.
Before Shizuka could look up at the mascot, a dense cloud of smoke descended and obscured her vision.
As the smoke pervaded the air, the children's laughter was swiftly replaced with violent coughs, shocked screams, and frightened sobs and interlaced with these were the vociferous shouts of parents trying to find their child in the chaos. In this cacophony of noise, a blunt and forceful strike was delivered to the back of Shizuka's head and within seconds, she was rendered unconscious.
When the smoke eventually dissipated, the procession continued on their merry way as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened while several families dramatically reunited as if they had been separated for a lifetime and in their celebratory mood, they all failed to notice that one girl's figure had vanished with the last wisps of smoke.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
"Move."
With this single utterance, Madoka immediately made everyone feel as if they were the most treacherous of sinners being plunged into the eternally frozen lake in the ninth circle of hell. For a moment no one could move or speak or even breathe regularly.
Hayato involuntarily shivered but ultimately, he steeled his nerves and didn't step aside. He forced out an unnatural laugh. "That's a real serious face you're showing there, Semi. You getting a little tense before the show, bud? Why don't you sit down and have a drink of water? I think it'll do you good."
Madoka's bone-chilling gaze cut into him. "I don't have time to play games with you, Tachibana. It's been exactly 60 minutes since Shizuka has left this room. Everyone else who had left when she did has returned already. I need to go see if something happened to her."
Hayato dry swallowed. "Look, Semi, I don't wanna mess with you. Really I don't. At all. But you got such a crazy look in your eyes right now that I'm honestly pissed scared to let you go out!"
No one in their class had forgotten how Madoka had reacted when Shizuka had collapsed previously. Because the ambulance had been delayed, he had tried to carry Shizuka all the way to the hospital on foot like a madman and nearly got plowed down by a bus in the process. While they had tactfully hidden this matter from Shizuka afterwards, they all reserved the bit of knowledge they received that day deep within their hearts and that bit of knowledge was this: no one among them was perfect because even the seemingly omnipotent Semi Madoka could become frazzled and downright foolish when driven over the edge.
"You said Yoshino's been gone for an hour, right? Well, it took us like half an hour just to bring the furniture over and get cleaned up so really that's only 30 or so minutes unaccounted for. If we subtract the time it takes to get the tablecloths, that leaves like 20 minutes. For all we know, she could still be looking for them now. 20 minutes isn't that long. Or maybe on her way back she was momentarily sidetracked by snacks or something. All I'm saying is let's not overreact and make a big deal of things, alright?"
Overreact? They thought he was overreacting? Even with the conditions outside, he calculated that it would've taken no more than 12 minutes for Shizuka to go to the computer lab and return from where she had been. Furthermore, he knew that with the way her mind worked, if she had experienced difficulties locating the tablecloths she wouldn't have kept searching, she would've gone back to report and found an alternate solution. It was even less likely that she'd be sidetracked. Shizuka may have expressed a desire to explore the various festival events and an adoration for street food but she was a responsible and diligent girl who swore by efficiency above all of that. Before her work had been properly carried out, she wouldn't have gotten distracted and wandered around. Thus, for her not to have returned could only mean that there were unforeseen circumstances. Not to mention there was still the looming threat of the villain they had yet to find.
Indeed, there was a chance that these circumstances weren't unfavourable but the fact that Shizuka had left her phone in the gym meant that Madoka had no way of contacting her which meant he had to go confirm in person. They all thought he was overreacting but did they have any idea how many thousands of wretched tragedies could occur in the span of a few minutes?
Seeing the ruthlessness in Madoka's eyes intensify, Hayato gritted his teeth. Then, after a beat he proposed, "Why don't we wait just 10 more minutes? If she isn't back in 10, then we can all go look for her!"
Yuki who had managed to gather his courage nodded in agreement. "Y-Yeah, after 10 minutes we can all go!"
"That's right!"
"Yeah!"
"Move." When he finished speaking, Madoka violently slammed his fist against the wall an inch away from Hayato's head. His action not only sent shockwaves throughout the room it also informed everyone that if they continued to block him, there would only be carnage.
It was at this time that a hawkish voice sounded out. "What are all of you doing?"
When the class saw the principal appear after unlocking a door with their homeroom teacher behind her, they were stunned but after a few seconds they remembered to bow and give their greetings.
"Why are you all standing around idly? Why is no one making the necessary preparations?" the principal questioned with narrowed eyes. "I have already told the superintendent and his guests that you are going to begin in the next 10 to 15 minutes. There cannot be any more delays."
Sakaki took a look around the room in trepidation before he hesitantly explained their current predicament.
When the principal and Mana-sensei had finished listening to his explanation, they both displayed unsettled reactions albeit for different reasons. While Mana-sensei was genuinely worried for the safety and well-being of his student, the principal was worried over the potential effects this incident could have on her personal reputation. What would the superintendent and his contemporaries think of her leadership abilities if they knew that one of their school's students got into a mishap during such a time? It was bad enough that their enrollment rate was already falling year after year after she had taken over. She couldn't risk anything else staining her name.
"Listen very closely," began the principal somberly. "In the next 10 minutes, I want all of you who appear in the first four scenes of the play and all of you who are in charge of stage controls to get ready and be on standby. Everyone else, I want you to spread out and discreetly go looking for Yoshino Shizuka. You must act as naturally as you can. No one can know that there is anything wrong. If after 10 minutes you are unable to find her, do not keep looking. Just come back directly because at that point we will have to replace her with someone who knows her parts."
"What? You'd replace Shizuka-chan just like that? That's too cruel!" blurted out Megu.
"What about it is cruel? In the real world, beyond the confines of these school walls, people who fail to perform their assigned duties get replaced on a regular basis. This is a lesson that you all must learn," the principal intoned. "Now, go. Time is of the essence."
The rattled students scattered under her orders except for Hayato and Yuki who were locked in confrontation with Madoka.
"Didn't you hear what the principal said, Semi?" reminded Hayato with a hand on Madoka's arm. "You have to go prepare. You're one of the first ones up."
"Why don't we go over our lines in the first scene, Madoka-kun?" suggested Yuki stiffly as he tried to push Madoka away from the door. "I'm feeling a little jittery and could use a practice partner to help me refresh my memory of the script!"
With one motion, Madoka flung them both aside and walked out.
The sound of Hayato and Yuki calling after him attracted the principal's attention and in the next moment, with large strides, she crossed the width of the backstage area and then, followed Madoka out of the door.
When she caught up to him, she reached out and used a vice-like grip on his shoulder to hold him in place.
"Semi Madoka, why are you defying my orders by not getting ready to go onstage?"
The principal forcibly spun Madoka around and fixed her sharp eyes on him. "Do not think that the rules do not apply to you as you the first-ranked student of your grade, Semi Madoka. You will return immediately."
"No."
The principal's face darkened. "You do not want to test the limits of my patience."
Madoka brushed her hand away coldly. "No, it's you who shouldn't test the limits of mine." When he finished speaking, he took off without looking back.
As the hallway just outside the stage area had been blocked off by the principal to prevent anyone from randomly barging in and disturbing the performance, only the nearby students of 3-A had witnessed this tense interaction. Even so, this didn't make the principal any less incensed to have her authority challenged by a mere student.
When the 10 minute time limit that the principal had imposed passed, the students of 3-A gathered around nervously. The situation was becoming more grim as time passed. Not only had they been unable to find Shizuka, now, even Madoka had disappeared.
"Which one of you is confident in taking over for either Yoshino Shizuka or Semi Madoka?"
When the principal's gaze swept over them, the students felt as if they were pigs in a barn trying to avoid being chosen for slaughter. Although some of them had dreamt of being the leads during the earlier stages of production, at this point in time, none of them had the confidence to take on a role that they never rehearsed.
"No volunteers. I see." The principal paused. "Your teacher tells me that this is a student-written production. Which one of you is the playwright?"
Arisa's heart beat erratically as she lifted a trembling hand. "...I-It's me."
"And you are?"
"Hattori Arisa."
"Good. From this moment onwards, Hattori Arisa you will be replacing Semi Madoka."
Arisa's mouth fell open. "I-I-I—"
The principal was unyielding. "Please save your theatrics for the stage. As the playwright I am sure that you must have a firm grasp of all the roles in the play. You know how each and every character should be portrayed; therefore, you are the most suitable candidate to take on the role of the most crucial character in the story."
The students shot Arisa concerned looks. Although she had performed well the day before, it had only been very recently that this extremely timid classmate of theirs had been able to appear on stage without having panic attacks. They wondered if the pressure to replace Madoka would be too much for her; however, they knew that there was not much they could do about it. Because on top of the principal's decree, it was true that in the absence of Madoka, Arisa was actually the one who had the best grasp of the fairy godmother's lines.
"As for the remaining role, who here has prior acting experience? Mana-sensei, are you aware of any students with acting experience?"
Mana-sensei furrowed his brows. He could see that his students were all hoping not to be named so he struggled for a while before he truthfully said, "...If I remember correctly, Tachibana once told me he had acted in a play before?"
Hayato jumped. "Me? When did I do that?"
Sakaki nudged him and whispered, "Remember? During that one rehearsal you shared that bottom half of a cow anecdote with Mana-sensei!"
When realization dawned on Hayato, he wanted to go back in time and slap his past self.
The principal ignored the self-loathing look on Hayato's face as she proclaimed, "Good. Then, Tachibana, you will replace Yoshino Shizuka. Regarding the roles the two of you held before, as a class, decide whether you will write these characters out of the story or have another student take over for them. When those curtains open in 3 minutes I expect all of you to show the school the performance of your lives."
"But what about Shizuka-chan?" asked Yuki in a weak voice. "Besides Madoka-kun, is anyone else going to look for her? What if some thing really happened to her and she needs help? Aren't we going to do something?"
"Nonsense," rebuked the principal. "Nothing could have happened to her. Our campus is fully secured. It is likely that she got lost in the festival atmosphere and forgot to come back after socializing with friends. Acting on the side of caution I will send a few teachers to look out for her but I doubt that it is anything serious. However, none of you are to speak of this matter until everything is settled. You just need to focus on performing. Nothing more."