CH. 61 - The Traveler, The Beast And The Wishing Rose

Later, on their way home after school, Shiori and Hikigaya look upset and embarrassed, still thinking about the casting earlier.

“This is all your fault. If you would’ve kept your mouth shut, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” Shiori blames Hikigaya.

“How is this exactly my fault? You’re the one who wrote the scene.” Hikigaya says back.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think it would be me and you!” Shiori shouts back.

“If Hikigaya can’t do it, I can always kiss you.” Alice says from behind Hikigaya. He gets an upset look and glares at her.

“Shut up. I can do it…” Hikigaya says embarrassedly. Alice giggles as she turns away. Hikigaya blushes and sighs as Shiori blushes too.

“Look, it’s not like we haven’t done it before… This time we just have to do it in front of a bunch of people, that’s all.” Shiori says softly. Hikigaya looks at her surprised, thinking of the time Fullsky and Watchdog kissed, as Alice gasps behind them.

“You guys have kissed before? When? You have to tell me!” Alice says excitedly, invested in her friends’ lives as she pushes in between them. Shiori and Hikigaya get embarrassed by her and blush intensely before yelling at her.

“No, we don’t!” They shout together.

Back at school, the class continues to practice. They do different scenes and eventually come to one scene where everyone is sitting together at a long table talking to each other, with Shiori and Hikigaya in the center.

“Okay, now for the final dialogue and kiss!” Samuel says excitedly. They look nervous as they start.

“S-so, does this mean that I’m now a princess?..” Shiori acts but her nervousness comes through.

“I-I could make you one if you wanted…” Hikigaya doing the same.

He finishes his line as they both gulp before leaning towards each other. They close their eyes and get very close to each other as the entire class watches with anticipation, Tsuki and Milo looking as if they’re about to burst with frustration. But before they kiss, they pull back at the last second, both blushing and sweating a bit.

“Ms. Samuel, would it be okay if we didn’t actually kiss until the actual scene..?” Shiori asks, too anxious to do it right now. Samuel looks confused but nods.

“Of course. I’m sure you teenagers know how to kiss each other, so there’s no need for practice there.” Samuel says, playfully wiggling her eyebrows at them.

Shiori smiles nervously a bit before the auditorium doors slam open. Everyone looks over as a short man dressed in an exotic outfit accompanied by a young adult in sunglasses, holding a clipboard, walks in. They make their way down towards the stage. Ms. Samuel greets them by the stage.

“You must be Mr. Blonc.” She puts her hand out to shake his hand, but he just looks at her up and down as if examining her.

“Yes, I thought that would be obvious.” He responds, a thick accent in his voice. Samuel sweats a bit as she awkwardly pulls her hand back.

“Well, it’s just that you’re late, so I wasn’t sure-”

“I am not late, you are all simply early. From now on, this theater runs on my time and mine alone, do you understand?” He interrupts her and speaks rudely. Ms. Samuel looks confused and lost a bit at his words.

“Um, yes, I guess?” She answers with a raised eyebrow.

“Good. As your director, I expect everyone to do as I say, how I say it. Now, hand it to me.” Blonc says, snapping at her and opening his palm to her as he looks at the clipboard his assistant is holding. Samuel stands there confused and looks around. Blonc slowly looks back at her unamused. “The script. Hand me a copy of the script.” He says, frustrated.

“Oh! Sorry, I had no idea since you didn’t specify.” Samuel says back. Blonc gives her a look again as Samuel composes herself a bit awkwardly and hands him the papers. He looks at the script for a moment, skimming it before speaking again.

“Yes, I suppose this will do. Seems as though an amateur high schooler wrote this, but it’s not bad.” he says openly. Shiori gets a little offended at the comment as the other students look confused and offended too. “Okay! Let’s take it from the top!” Blonc shouts. He claps his hands together as the students help the stage crew move the set pieces out of the way and bring back the first set pieces. This seems to irritate Blonc.

“What are you morons doing? You do not need the set pieces yet! We are still in early stages, we shall only run through the dialogue. Surely even you stage crew can understand that?” Blonc berates them. The stage-crew get an unpleasant look as they walk backstage. Shiori and Touma then step forth to begin.

“Now, begin!” Blonc shouts. Touma seems a bit nervous at first, but Shiori helps him by starting off. 

“Hello. The storm is really picking up. Would it be possible I seek shelter here with you for the night?” Shiori acts in character, rough but passable.

“O-of course. Come on in…” Touma stutters out. Mr. Blonc lifts an eyebrow at Touma’s lines as they step back a bit. 

“Thank you so much. I greatly appreciate it.” Shiori says.

“I-it’s no problem at all. B-but why would someone like you be-” Touma says when he’s suddenly interrupted by Mr. Blonc.

“Stop stop stop! What’s going on here? Aren’t you supposed to be a seasoned woodsman living on his own? Where’s the emotion? Where’s the dedication? Don’t you want to be a star?!” Blonc asks dramatically. Touma pauses as Blonc exaggeratedly lifts his arms in the air. Touma shakes his head ‘No.’ in response to him. Blonc looks surprised a bit and lowers his arms. “Oh.” he says. “Well, too bad because by the time I’m done with you, you’ll all be stars!” He shouts. Samuel then approaches Blonc.

“To keep you in the loop, Touma has anxiety issues, Hisana can be a little lost sometimes, and Shiori and Hikigaya would rather-” Before she can finish explaining, Blonc interrupts her.

“If I wanted advice from a highschool teacher, I wouldn’t have become so good at my craft. Now shoo.” He gives her a belittling look before waving his hand at her. She gets an intensely offended look as Blonc continues to shout at the students.

Over the next few days, he continues to direct and command the students as they learn their lines and perform them for him. One day, as the class makes their way to the theater.

“Dude, this Blonc guy is really starting to get on my nerves.” Hikigaya says, annoyed.

“Hey, ‘that’s mister Blonc to you!’” Haru says sarcastically, mimicking Blonc with his voice and stature. The others laugh.

“Right, you don’t want him to go on another 15 minute rant about the importance of addressing someone higher than you with the utmost respect.” Lucy says mockingly.

“I don’t know if I can take much more of his yelling…” Touma says droopily while sweating. Chizuru and Suiyoubi rub his back.

“Yeah, me either.” Shiori says with an upset look. The students all step on stage like they usually do as Blonc sits in the front chairs.

“You are all two minutes late. Hurry up and get on stage before you waste anymore of my time.” Blonc commands. The students get irritated looks as they get on stage. “Alright, let us pick up where we left off. Crying girl of royalty comforted by servant. Action!” Blonc claps his hands together. Milo and Chizuru stand on stage with their scripts in hand for a moment before they put them down and Milo starts pretending to cry.

“Oh Prince! You were such an amazing man! Always helping those in need! And you were always… my one true love!” Milo says dramatically. Chizuru looks at Milo genuinely confused.

“Wait, but aren’t you married to the Knight?” She asks softly. Milo looks away, still in character.

“Yes, but I cannot deny how much my heart yearns for the Prince!” She says dramatically, with a blush across her face and shine in her lidded eyes. Mr. Blonc looks at his script and back at the stage in confusion and frustration.

“Cut! Cut! What is going on? That’s not in the script!” He shouts. Milo pops up.

“I know, but I figured adding in a forbidden love side story would be fun for the audience.” She says confidently.

“No, no, no! This isn’t supposed to be fun! It’s supposed to be dramatic! And if you add in new scenes like that on a whim, how is the rest of the crew supposed to react? I can’t do this with you anymore! Get lost, I need someone else to fill this role.” Blonc says frustrated as he waves his hand at her dismissingly. Milo looks offended as Ms. Samuel steps forward.

“You’re okay, Milo. You stay. Mr. Blonc, I believe there’s no harm in letting the scene go. Either we do it or we don’t. It’s not that big of a deal.” Samuel says. Blonc looks at her bitterly surprised.

“You believe there’s no harm? Well, then by all means, let’s just let it go! In fact, why don’t we all just start believing what you believe then, huh? Since you’re so confident in your beliefs.” He says with a mocking smile before it drops. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. You are nothing but a high school teacher. So do not speak to me again about directing this production or I will have you fired.” He says intimidatingly. Samuel stares at him in disbelief.

“Excuse me? I think you need to get that oval shaped head checked because last I heard, you were the temporary one here, not me.” She says as she stomps closer to him. “And don’t you dare think for one second you can speak to me like that again, you pompous, short stacked, eye vomit, too small for the grownups table looking weirdo!” She points her finger at his forehead as she stands over him. He gets an offended look as even his assistant looks shocked. The students all laugh and are taken totally by surprise by her words.

“Yeah! You get him, Ms. Samuel!” Haru cheers.

“Tell that jerk how it is!” Lucy shouts.

“Beat that villain!” Alice shouts too. They start cheering for her as Samuel smiles happily at her class before turning back to Blonc and giving him an angry look. He stutters for a moment before finally getting his words out.

“Weirdo?! Well, I’ve never! Fine then! Do this whole stupid production on your own! I’m out of here!” He grabs his coat and marches out of the auditorium with his assistant following him. He turns around to the class as he gets to the door. “And I’ll have you know, people love the way I dress!” he shouts before slamming the door behind him. Samuel looks confused a bit by his words.

“I didn’t even mention how he dressed..” She says under her breath as the class cheers for her.

“That was awesome, Ms. Samuel!” Chizuru says with a big smile.

“I don’t think that guy expected to get hit by a train like that today.” Daiki says.

“For real.” Hikigaya agrees with a smirk.

“You’re the best, Ms. Samuel!” Airi shouts happily. Samuel looks at the class, blushing a bit.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough. Thank you all, but we still have work to do.” Samuel says.

“But who’s gonna direct us now?” Hisana asks, confused. Samuel looks surprised for a moment, realizing this, and thinks.

“Oh yeah. Hm… Well, I suppose I’ll just have to do it.” Samuel says.

“Really? You will?” Sugawara asks.

“Yeah, why not? If that menace can, then surely I could, right?” Samuel asks with a smile. The class all lights up.

“Right!” They shout together. Samuel then claps her hands together with a determined look.

“Okay then! Let’s get started!” She shouts excitedly. They get excited as Samuel begins to guide them through their lines. 

Over the next couple of weeks, Samuel guides and directs the class through their lines and scenes, practicing with passion and joy until eventually the day of the show comes.

The group comes to school as normal, meeting up at the entrance like they do just before going into school together. Sugawara stops, though, when he sees a poster on the bulletin board posted out front of the entrance.

“Hey, look at the poster Ms. Samuel made for the show.” Sugawara says to the group. They all come over and look at it. Haru looks at it with excitement as Tsuki pouts.

“Oh man! This is gonna be so exciting! Why are you so bummed, Tsuki?” Haru asks.

“My role sucks! It’s so boring, and I don’t even get to kiss Shiori…” Tsuki pouts.

“I heard you did plenty of kissing Shiori already.” Sugawara says with a snarky tone. Tsuki rolls his eyes as they continue into school.

They go about the day as normal, Samuel letting them have a day of relaxing and socializing in class. When lunch comes around, they sit in the courtyard in their spot when a few different students approach them.

“Hey, I look forward to the play later.”

“I heard you guys kicked out that weird director. I can’t wait to see what you guys do without him!”

“I heard lots of people talking about the play this year. It’s gonna be packed!”

As different students give them words of encouragement throughout the day, they get even more excited yet more anxious for the upcoming performance.

“It sounds like the play is the talk of the town.” Lucy says.

“But why? The school does a play like this every year.” Shiori points out, a little nervous.

“Well, it’s not every year that the school play director is kicked out and the script is almost entirely written by the class.” Chizuru says, thinking about it.

“Maybe that’s why everyone is talking about it.” Ryuji says casually. Shiori pouts a bit with a worried look.

“Yeah, well, they’re getting their hopes up for nothing… It’s not like it’s that good or anything…” Shiori says, putting herself down.

“Give yourself more credit. You worked hard on that script. It’s great because you made it. I don’t care what anyone else says!” Hikigaya says, trying to encourage her.

“Yeah!” Haru and Chizuru cheer together. Shiori brightens up a little and smiles at Hikigaya as he gives her a confident smile back.

As the school day eventually comes to an end, many students are leaving, going home like normal, as the cast of the play all meet back up in their classroom. 

“The performance starts in about two hours, so get your pre-show jitters out and make sure you’re all ready to go in the performance hall. Makeup and costumes are on in 40!” Samuel says with a smile, feeling the anticipation in the air. The class all understands the instructions and head out.

The students hangout in the changing rooms as most of them get changed. Shiori sits, now in her costume, against the wall on the ground with her head in her hands. Hikigaya gently sits down next to her.

“You nervous?” He asks softly. After a moment of silence, Shiori lifts her head up dramatically with her eyes closed.

“Yes! I’ve never done anything like this before! I think I’m actually freaking out…” She says as she lays her head back in her hands. Hikigaya chuckles a bit at her. She softly looks at him, upset at his response. “Why are you laughing at me?..” she asks, pouting. Hikigaya slowly stops his giggling and looks at her.

“I’m not, I swear. It’s just that, we’ve literally fought for our lives before. We’ve pretended to be entirely other people and acted like it’s been that way for our entire lives. To me, this doesn’t even come close to how hard that was.” he says softly. Shiori looks a bit surprised and calms down, thinking about his words. She smiles softly.

“Yeah, I guess you're right.” She says, but then her smile drops a little. “I’m just scared I’ll mess it up… Not even for me, but for the others. If I make a mistake, it’ll ruin it for them. I just… don’t want them to hate me for that… That’s what I’m scared of…” Shiori admits. Hikigaya smiles softly at her.

“You have to trust your friends. No matter what you do, they’ll never hate you. Especially not here. If you mess up, we’ll help get you back on track. And if not, then we’ll all laugh about it together.”

As he speaks, he looks around at all the others, laughing and getting ready. Some of them also feeling the anxiety of the performance to come, Chizuru taking a deep breath with her hand on her chest, or Alice laughing and shaking her hands out in front of the others, or Kitaro nodding and clenching his fists over and over again. Hikigaya smiles a bit, noticing Lucy’s hand shaking before she clenches it tightly as she responds to someone.

“They may not have been able to help us back then, with the superpowers and villains and stuff, but here? Here, everyone can help.” He says softly. Shiori looks at him surprised when he smiles at her. “Besides, we’ve been working hard on this for weeks now. We got this, trust yourself.” He places his hand gently on her shoulder before standing up and going back to finish his makeup. She looks in awe at his words and smiles a bit. 

“Right. I got this. We got this.” She says softly before getting up and approaching the others, who are getting ready too.

In the auditorium, people are beginning to take their seats. The whole group's families are here, including Jun and Fuyuko, Ryuji’s parents. Fuyuko looks tired but still excited as Jun looks slightly irritated.

“I can’t believe you talked me into letting you come..” Jun mumbles. Fuyuko grabs his arm tightly with her own.

“I couldn’t make it to his Sports Festival, I am not missing this. Now be happy, he’s been working really hard on this.” She gives him an intense look as he sighs with a soft smile.

“Of course.”

Elsewhere, Asami, Hamasaki, Takanou and Riku take their seats. Asami has a camera in hand, ready to record the performance. 

“First play of his life. I can’t wait to see it!” Asami says excitedly.

“Are you excited to see your big sister up there, Riku?” Hamasaki asks Riku, getting him all excited for the show.

“Yeah! And Hiki too!” Riku says excitedly. They smile at him as he looks around. 

“Shiori wrote the script for this, didn’t she?” Takanou asks. Hamasaki nods happily. Takanou smiles proudly. “She’s always working so hard on her writing. I can’t wait to see how far she’s come.” He says, eyes filled with pride for his child. Asami nods, agreeing with Takanou’s statement. Sugawara sticks his head out of the curtains a bit and looks at the crowd. He begins to sweat as he pulls his head back in.

“That’s a lot of people…” he says softly.

“You’re getting nervous now?” Suiyoubi asks with a smile. Sugawara smiles nervously.

“Yeah, heheh… I was fine all day but now it’s setting in. How are you guys so calm?” He asks, looking at everyone else.

“I’m not. I’m with you, I’m still freaking out.” Shiori says despite her directly casual look. Chizuru jumps up next to her.

“I’m just super excited! I’ve never been in a play before!” She cheers happily.

“Yeah! Just another adventure for us to have together!” Haru shouts excitedly. Ryuji just shrugs his shoulders as he adjusts his chef’s hat. Alice seems distracted and wildly nervous.

“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Hey, should I go to the bathroom before we start?” She asks nervously.

“You already went like three times.” Kitaro says with a sweatdrop. Alice looks nervous as she slams her hands onto her head, throwing her head back.

“I know! But what if I have to go again?!” Alice shouts as Hisana looks at Touma, who is standing stiff in his position.

“What about you, big guy? You excited or nervous?” She asks softly. Touma nervously gives a thumbs up as he shakes. The others laugh among themselves as Hisana pats his back.

“Don’t sweat it! You were made for this!” Hisana says. Suddenly, a low hum of music plays across the speakers as the crowd begins to hush. 

“It’s go time guys! Places!” Ms. Samuel says quietly but urgently to the class with her headset on. She presses the earpiece as she makes her way to the front of the stage. Samuel steps through the curtains with a big smile on her face. 

“Welcome everyone, to this year’s Iris High performance! We have a very special play planned for you all tonight. You may be used to the normal programs we do here, but this year is different. This year’s performance was written by one of our very own second year students here in class 2-1, Shiori Inabi! Let’s give her a round of applause for her hard work and dedication!”

Samuel says happily as she claps. The crowd then claps loudly, cheering for Shiori with excitement. In the backstage, Hikigaya elbows Shiori as she blushes in embarrassment with a smile on her face, rubbing some of her bangs together.

“Now, without further ado, let us get to the main event. Iris High Class 2-1 presents: The Traveler, The Beast And The Wishing Rose!” Samuel says enthusiastically, building the hype, as she steps off stage and as the curtains pull back. Now begins the enthralling tale of these characters.