In the courtyard, Nanami and Shimizu were playing with Kuppuru, well mostly Nanami. Shimizu was just leaning against the tree while looking at the two of them.
Nanami was laughing along while playing with the cat until she suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong, Haru?"
"I just thought of a line for a song. If I don't write it down right away, I'll forget it." Nanami replied.
"Ah, I see. Good luck with it, Haru."
"Thanks!"
While relaxing, the two of them heard a struggling noise. And the voice sounded familiar to Shimizu.
They turned towards the voice and saw Kurusu was hanging on a branch.
"Kurusu-kun!" As soon as Nanami shouted his name, he was startled and accidentally let go of his grip and fell down to the ground, to which Nanami screamed.
Shimizu and Nanami quickly rushed towards where Kurusu had fallen and Nanami apologized for startling him.
"A-are you okay? Shall we go to the infirmary?"
"Did you hit your head?"
Kurusu quickly stood up and slightly shouted at them, "Don't tell anyone!"
"Don't tell anyone... That you saw me here." He told them "Got it?!" And he walked away.
Both Nanami and Shimizu flinched at his sudden outburst but Shimizu was more calmer than Nanami. Nanami was worried, looking at his walking figure.
During lunch hour, Shimizu, Nanami and Shibuya were walking along the hallways.
"What are you going to have for lunch? I'm starving!" Shibuya said to her two friends.
"What would be good...?"
"Anything that has chocolate in it..." Shimizu said to herself but was heard by two of her friends.
"What's you and your chocolate..." Shibuya deadpanned.
"Can't help it. I like anything that's chocolate or sweet." Shimizu replied bluntly.
"I worry about your health, Kotone." Shibuya said in worry.
"Don't have to."
Meanwhile Nanami was just chuckling at her friends' conversation.
As they were discussing what to eat, Nanami saw Kurusu just a few meters in front of them.
"Kurusu-kun!" And with that, Nanami rushed up to him with Shibuya and Shimizu following behind.
"Did you hear about the audition?" Nanami asked.
Huh? What audition? Shimizu looked at her in confusion.
"Oh. You mean the one with Hyuga-sensei, right?" Why does he look so sad? And now that I think about it, Hyuga-sensei is an idol so... An audition with him? Cool.
"Oh, you did know! No surprise... You're a big fan!" Shibuya teased him.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shinomiya at the opposite of the building. "Natsuki..."
The three girls turned around and Nanami upon seeing the male, called out to him and waved.
"Shinomiya-san!" And Kurusu flinched when Nanami called out his name.
Shinomiya, who had heard his name, turned around and saw the group. When seeing Kurusu, he exclaimed, "Syo-chan! I have great news!"
"Crap!" And Kurusu quickly grabbed onto Nanami's wrist and dragged her.
"H-haruka?!" Shibuya exclaimed in surprise but felt a pat on her shoulder.
"Don't worry. I'll follow them." As soon as Shimizu said that, she dashed towards the running duo, leaving the dumbfounded Shibuya behind.
Few minutes later, the duo was outside the building. "Sorry. If Natsuki gets involved, things will only get complicated." said Kurusu while panting hard after running.
"Besides, there's something I have to do before the audition."
"Then you are going to the audition..." Nanami said in a hopeful tone.
"You think I'll let this chance get away from me? After all, we're talking about the 'Prince of Fight'." After Kurusu said that, Nanami had confusion written all over her face.
"...Of fights?"
"You didn't know?!" Kurusu exclaimed, grabbing onto both of her shoulders.
"Sorry... It looks like I'm a little behind the times..."
"S-seriously..." Kurusu let out an audible sigh, obviously disappointed.
"'Prince of Fights' was a major hit drama that Hyuga starred in." And with that, Kurusu started explaining the whole drama while singing out the song.
"Wow! Kurusu-kun, your song was wonderful!" Nanami said while clapping, after he had ended the song.
He looked at her in surprise until he said, "You can call me Syo." And looked away.
"Ah. Then, Syo-kun..."
"Ever since I was little, I've been weak and held no confidence in anything. But when I saw him on TV, it really cheered me up. To me, Hyuga Ryuya is a lifesaver. He's a hero." Kurusu said, sounding proud.
"I was thrilled when I found out he was in charge of my class!"
"Really?" Nanami gave a small smile.
Kurusu suddenly shouted and Nanami looked towards where he was looking.
There at the garden, Hyuga was running while doing some fighting actions, probably for the drama he's going to act.
"He's so cool..." Kurusu said, admiring his idol. "I wanna act with him... Can you understand how I feel?"
"Yes."
Surprised, Kurusu looked towards Nanami.
"I'm a fan of Hayato-sama."
"Hayato?"
"Yes..."
"He doesn't really fit your image, Nanami." Kurusu deadpanned. "I mean when I think of Hayato..."
"His songs are fantastic!" Nanami cut him off while standing up from the bench. "He cheered me up... His music saved me..."
"Then, same as me... You want to..."
"Yes!"
Kurusu stared at the girl in surprise.
"You know, for someone who's shorter than me, you sure run fast, Syo." Shimizu suddenly said out of the blue. "And that was a wonderful song there."
"Kotone-chan?!"
"Oi! Kotone! I didn't think you would be the one to call me that!" Kurusu shouted at her, not believing that she actually called him short.
"But it's true. Come on," And Shimizu pulled Kurusu next to her, which he blushed slightly at the action. "Haru, be the judge. Who's taller?"
"Um... Oh! It's really you, Kotone-chan!" Nanami exclaimed. Shimizu gave a victory peace sign to the boy to which he just gritted his teeth. She would have stuck her tongue out at him as well but she was wearing her mask.
"I don't believe it! You must be wearing high heels!" As soon as he accused her, he looked down at her shoes and noticed that she was just wearing the normal school shoe.
"You were saying?" Shimizu gave him a smug look and Kurusu sighed, obviously dejected that he was shorter than a girl.
"Syo-chan, I found you!" Hearing Shinomiya's voice, Kurusu flinched.
Out of nowhere, a net was thrown at Kurusu.
Where does Nat-chan get all these equipment... First a flamethrower, then a parachute... Now a net?
The net soon caught him and he was hanging on the tree, and of course, Kurusu was screaming.
Nanami looked at him in worry while Shimizu didn't seem fazed at all.
"As always, Syo-chan is no good with heights." Shinomiya said, smiling at the scene in his chibi mode.
"Eh?!"
"I'm serious! Get me down! This is too high! Get me down! Get me down, I said! Stop this thing! What is this?! I wanna get off!"
After he was saved, they, along with the others, were in the study hall. Kurusu wasn't facing them though, he was sitting with his back turned.
"Fear of heights?!" Ittoki said.
"Of... Course... Not!" He was fidgeting in his seat, scared of what happened to him earlier.
"Don't deny it, Syo." Shimizu smirked behind her mask.
"Looks like a serious case..." Shibuya said. Meanwhile, Hijirikawa, who was sitting beside Shimizu, was calmly drinking his tea while Jinguji, as usual, was with a flock of girls.
"But isn't it a problem?" Ittoki suddenly asked. "After all, the movie's 'Prince of Fights'."
"It's full of high places!" Shibuya added.
"Oh, shut up!" He just won't stop fidgeting. "I'm tryin' to get over it!"
So that's why he was hanging on the branch... Both Nanami and Shimizu thought.
"You're so secretive, Syo-chan!" Shinomiya pouted. "Why didn't you come to me for advice?"
"Because you're dangerous."
"I would never put you in danger!" Shinomiya said, giving a close-eye smile.
"That smile alone is dangerous!" Kurusu shouted while Nanami just sweatdropped at their antics.
"Hey, let's all help to cure him." Ittoki suggested.
You really do have a kind soul, Otoya.
"That way, he can audition!" Nanami said, agreeing with him.
"I supposed I'll lend you a hand!" Shibuya stated as well.
Kurusu looked at everyone in surprise.
"It sounds interesting." Jinguji suddenly appeared behind Kurusu, which startled him.
"Would you mind if I joined in?" He smirked slightly. "It seems like a perfect way to kill time."
"How about you, Masa? Kotone?"
After taking a sip of his tea, he said the following with his eyes close. " 'Knowing what is right and not doing it signifies a want of courage.'"
"Um... Sure. What he said." Shimizu agreed as well.
"Then you're in!" Ittoki said in delight.
"If everyone is going to help... Then... I guess I'll do my best..."
And so, they started out with the training called "Training to Overcome Fear" throughout the whole day.
First off was a bungee jump off the school's tower.
"There's no way I can do this!" Kurusu shouted.
"Exposure therapy is the most effective method!" Shinomiya called out from behind him.
"Are you sure about this?" Nanami looked at the others, sounding worried.
"Mmm... Maybe." Ittoki replied, sounding unsure as well.
"Don't push me! Don't push me! Don't you dare push me!" Kurusu kept shouting but was ignored by Shinomiya who pushed him like it was no big deal. "There you go!"
"AHH!"
"Um... Maybe I shouldn't have done that?" Shinomiya questions.
Next, they were at one of the buildings in the city. Syo was on the window cleaning platform whereas the others were inside the building.
"I'm gonna fall! I'm really gonna fall!" His friends just wished him luck.
Next, he was on a high bridge above the cliff while his friends were just below him, watching him and cheering him on.
And, he was at the end of a pirate ship and a shark was in the ocean, waiting to eat the poor boy.
Finally, he was parachuting down from a helicopter.
After all the training, Kurusu's head was lying on Kotone's lap as he kept on mumbling that he's going to die or it's too high. Shimizu slowly ran her hand through his blond hair, hoping to calm him down (much to everyone's, especially Hijirikawa, displeasure) while Shibuya kept fanning him, whereas Nanami went to buy some water for him.
"Time to call it quits." Hijirikawa said as he had his arms crossed.
"We're not done yet!" Shinomiya said and had an evil look on his face. "The fact is, up 'till now, we've been too kind to him." Soon his face turned back to normal and he gave a close eye smile.
"Actually, I've got a friend who's developing a rocket..." He said, while imagining Kurusu being tied up on the rocket. "He said that if we take Syo-chan up just 10,000 meters, he won't be afraid anymore."
As soon as Kurusu heard this, his face turned from blue to hot steaming red.
Luckily, Nanami came in time and gave Shibuya the water.
Before she could pour the water onto the boy's head, Shimizu moved to the side so that she wouldn't get splashed from the water.
When the water cooled him off, Kurusu's face turned back to blue and he fell back onto Shimizu's lap.
Great, now my skirt's wet.
"I'm beat..." He mumbled. You could see his soul flying out from his mouth.
"Syo-chan, are you alright?"
Nat-chan, does he look okay? Shimizu sweatdropped at his question.
"Is that story true?" Shibuya asked.
"I'm not sure..." Shinomiya started. "But Syo-chan is a go-getter, so I want to do something to help him overcome this"
"Shinomiya-san, do you know Syo-kun well?" Nanami asked.
"Yes... For years, we've been in the same violin competitions. Neither one of us imagined we'd end up going here, though..." Shinomiya said.
"Anyway, I wonder why he's so afraid of heights?" Ittoki asked.
"Maybe he went through something terrible in the past." Hijirikawa stated.
"Something terrible?"
All of a sudden, they heard some laughter and everyone was trying to find where it was coming from. Shimizu just mentally sighed at who it is.
Out of nowhere, the headmaster appeared behind the bench to which everyone flinched and screamed at his sudden appearance.
Shimizu just looked dumbfounded at the headmaster's actions.
"Headmaster, how long have you been here?!" Shibuya asked.
"Are you eavesdropping again?"
"Were you?"
He did a stunt move as he jumped and landed on the ground in front of the bench.
"Listening to the troubles of our diligent students is part of the job to me." The headmaster stated.
"Mr. Kurusu!" He pulled the said person away from Shimizu's lap and shoulder-grabbed him and started shaking him.
"W-what do you want?!" Kurusu exclaimed, seeming to be alive now.
"Are you all righty-o? Relax!"
Later that night, the group were in the headmaster's office as he made the metronome tick at a slow pace. The room was dark and the only light source was the candle light.
"Now, close your eyes. Slowly, deep breathing..." The headmaster started, and he used English at the back of his sentence.
Kurusu was suspicious at the headmaster's doing but decided to go along.
"Slowly, slow and slow, slowly... Slowly..." He said those in English as Kurusu took deep breaths and closed his eyes.
You looked like a creeper, Headmaster... Especially with those sunglasses of yours. Shimizu thought to herself and decided to close her eyes as well. She was sitting beside Kurusu after all. The couch was comfy.
"Calm down. You're getting warmer..." The hand of the metronome continued to tick. "And you're getting sleepier and sleepier..."
Everyone stared at Kurusu in worry.
After a few ticking, the headmaster grinned slightly. Then, he stopped the metronome and asked, "Okay, you went to sleep, yes?"
"Not at all..." The headmaster flinched and sweatdropped.
"How can I fall asleep with all this?! You've gotta be kidding me! Jeez! Get real! In the first place..." And he was knocked out.
The headmaster came back to his senses and clapped his hand once, "Okay, okay, okay... You have fallen asleep. Now we're going to go deep, deep into your memories." He said, as he wiggled his fingers.
"Right now, you're three years old... You're on a ferris wheel... Are you terrified, being up so high?"
"I ain't scared... It's fun..."
"All right. And now, you're four years old..."
"Nope... It's fun..."
"Okay. Now, you're five years old..."
Kurusu didn't answer and instead, it seems like he was struggling, like he was going through a nightmare.
"Is it scary being on the Ferris wheel?"
Then, Kurusu started screaming. Everyone looked at him in pure confusion and worry. Shimizu however was still asleep. How? That's just how she rolls.
"What's wrong?" The headmaster asked.
"I'm scared!" He shouted at the elder. "Get me down!"
"What happened?" This time, the headmaster said in English.
"How many times do I have to tell you, stop chasing me!" Apparently, he was still half awake. Right now, he was having a flashback.
In that flashback, a young Shinomiya was chasing around a young Kurusu with a butterfly net around the tower. Young Kurusu was at the edge of the tower and it was really high.
When young Shinomiya got closer, young Kurusu accidentally tripped and he was dangling off the tower. Just as his hand let go and was about to fall off, young Shinomiya quickly grabbed onto his hand. When young Kurusu looked beneath him, and noticed that it was high, he started to scream. Which resulted in his fear of heights.
Kurusu finally woke up from the therapy and muttered, "Natsuki... You're the culprit!"
He stood up from the couch and grabbed onto Shinomiya's collar. "Aha... Come to think of it, I seem to remember something like that happening..."
"Not 'something like'. It happened exactly like that!" Kurusu grumbled at him.
Everyone just sweatdropped at both of them except for the headmaster. He looked towards the asleep aquamarine hair girl and thought deeply.
"We'll be going then, headmaster. Thank you." Ittoki said as Hijirikawa went to nudge Shimizu. But at last, it doesn't work.
"We'll bring her back." Shibuya said as both girls slung Shimizu's arms around their shoulders.
"Thank you, headmaster." Everyone bowed towards him and left his office.
When they left, the headmaster was still deep in thought. "Shimizu... Kotone..."
The next day, everyone was at the garden and was quite shocked at what Kurusu had said.
"Eh?! You're not going to audition?!" Nanami exclaimed.
"W-why not?!" Shibuya was confused as well. Everyone was. "You're cured of your acrophobia, aren't you?!"
"Why not? Look at this!" Kurusu fidgeted and pointed at the magazine that laid beside him on the bench. "Right here!"
" 'The role will be the main character's younger sister.'" Ittoki read.
"A girl?!" Shibuya shouted.
"And it's printed in such small letters..." Nanami said softly and everyone was just dumbfounded at it.
Kurusu let out a disappointed sigh. "I wanted to act alongside Hyuga-sensei..."
"If only you were a girl... Sadly you're a boy... How pitiful, Syo." Shimizu said, trying to stifle laughter.
"It's okay! Syo-chan!" Shinomiya suddenly shouted from afar. Kurusu, as usual, flinched at his friend's voice.
Then, they saw Shinomiya running towards them with a frilly pink dress. "Leave it to me!"
"No way..." Kurusu looked at it in disgust.
After a few minutes of struggling, Kurusu was wearing the dress with a blond wig.
"Syo-chan, you're so cute!" Shinomiya exclaimed and started taking pictures. "Don't move!"
"You're really cute!" Nanami said in amazement.
"This might actually work..." Shibuya said, admiring what Shinomiya had done.
Shimizu was just laughing her heart out. It's been awhile since she has laughed this much.
"That's enough, all of you!" Kururus shouted.
"Wow!" Suddenly, Hyuga, who was in the middle of jogging, passed by them.
"Hyuga-sensei?!" Kurusu flinched at his teacher's sudden appearance.
"You're exactly what I have in mind for the role of my little sister! What's your name?" Hyuga said as he continued to jog at his spot.
"S-syo..."
"Make sure you audition, Syoko-chan!" He said, while giving a thumbs up. After that, he continued jogging.
Kurusu had turned to stone as soon as Hyuga said that. "Syoko-chan?!"
Hijirikawa and Jinguji had decided to leave the scene whereas Shimizu just continued laughing while rolling on the ground.
"I think he's been traumatized again..." Shibuya said to the others.
"Really?" It doesn't seem like it to Shinomiya though.
"Syo-kun, go for it!" Nanami cheered.
"Okay..."
-End of Chapter 5-