Chapter 16

“Everyone, are we ready?”, Hana questioned loudly

“HAIIIIII”, answered the entire class

It was the first day of their preparation, and the whole class had stayed back for practice.

The day before, when Sugawara had asked Hana what they’ll be doing Hana replied, “We’re gonna enact a short play, 45 minutes long, mostly through dancing, and some through drama. It’ll be a simple fairy tale. There is a prince and a simple village girl. Both fall in love. But unlike most fairy tales, instead of the girl, the prince is captured by an evil lord, and the girl with the help of a magical being goes to rescue the guy”

“I see”, said Sugawara with some thought, “Yeah it’ll work”

“Oh, Ichi Kun, you submitted our form, right?”

“Yeah that’s the first thing I did”, assured Sugawara.

During the festival, each class had to fill up a form, stating what they’ll be presenting and which area of the school they would be needing. To avoid disputes amongst classes, they had to fill up the time, when they submitted the form to a member of the student council. So, if two classes opted for the same location, the one who submitted their form earlier, would get it.

“Okay then”, Hana had an announcement to make, “Is it fine if I assign the role for the act?”

“Sure”, Sugawara said, and the whole class agreed

“Fine then, I’ll be playing the role of the magical being who’ll support the girl. Saichiba Chan will play the girl’s role”, everyone shook their head

“Huh, wait I cannot do it”, Saichiba was red with embarrassment

“Ano Chan, it’s fine you have a cute face but you even have the gaze of a warrior, you’re perfect for the role”, Sugawara deducted

“Moving On”, Hana continued ignoring Saichiba’s protest, “The prince will be Kai”, every girl agreed, the guys to had to admit he was fit for the role

“Wait a minute...”, Kai glared at Hana

Ken simply put his hands-on Kai’s shoulder, “There is no point in protesting. Just give up”, he had a smug look

Hana gave Kai a thumb’s up, “Now, Ichi Kun will play the role of Saichiba’s comrade, as his father had been killed by the evil lord”

Sugawara nodded

“Now for the antagonist”, Hana smirked, “Ken will be the evil lord”

“Wait a minute...”, Ken was flustered

Kai simply put his hands-on Ken’s shoulder, “There is no point in protesting. Just give up”, he had a smug look

“I see”, Sugawara, “It’s because of Ken’s eyes, it looks like he has been stoned. Especially when he is about to dose off”

Everyone laughed.

“Ah... , I cannot do it”, Ken said

Hana looked at Ken with puppy eyes, “Please Ken, for me?”

Ken stuttered, “Fine...”

“Thank you”, Hana said with contentment, “But the evil lord isn’t alone, he has a comrade too, so the evil mistress will be Hanari Chan”

“Perfect”, the whole class said

“What?”, Shizune had a disgusted look

“Please Hanari, you won’t deny me, right?”, Hana blackmailed her

“Fine, only as a payback. Do not consider this as an act of kindness, or that I consider you a friend”, Shizune said hiding her shyness

“Hai Hai”

The rest of the role were decided too. Futaro and a few boys were selected as The Evil Lord’s servants. A few girls, as the magical beings’ comrades. And few were in charge of the backstage and rest in the café.

They were about to begin their practice when someone from the other class came to them with a message.

“What is it?”, asked Sugawara

“The auditorium has been allotted to class II B; sorry they submitted their form before you”

“Wait what, how can that be?”, Sugawara was shocked, “I was the one to submit, and no one had submitted the form before me”

“Sorry, I’m just a messenger, you’re being called to the student council office, to choose a new location. I only came to inform that much, Goodbye”, saying this the student left.

Sugawara looked at his classmates.

“If we don’t get the auditorium, it’ll be bad. I mean we can do it anywhere but it won’t have the same charm as when performed on a stage”, Ken said with concern, “You sure you were the first one to submit Ichi?”

“Yeah, I’m sure of it”, Sugawara said, “Something feels off, guys start practising without me, I’ll solve this on my own”, saying this he left the classroom

“Oie wait, I’ll come too”, Ken had followed him outside

“It’s fine”, Sugawara

“Nah, the more the merrier”

“Suit yourself”, Sugawara smiled, “But we’ll get the auditorium back”

“Yeah we will”, Ken said

Both fists bumped each other and made their way to the student council office.