Volume 2 - CH 2.7

The sound of bouncing basketballs echoed through the gymnasium.

“It’s time to stop the losing streak.”

As I announced this from the offensive side, Sakuraba, who was on defence, smiled wryly.

“Bring it on!”

How can you be so confident, you bastard?

I started off at a leisurely pace and then suddenly shifted up a gear and tried to drive past Sakuraba. But Sakuraba wasn’t bad enough to be swayed by such a sudden change of pace. He quickly moved into my path and tried to stop my drive.  

At this rate, it would be a foul.

I gave up trying to cut inside and ran outside. Even from here, I still could do a three-pointer. 

“Ugk…!” Not sure whether my move was a feint or an actual one, Sakuraba stopped for a moment.

However, it was all I needed. Before Sakuraba could make his decision, I leapt and shot in an arcing trajectory. 

The ball sailed into the goal with a light bang.

“Yes! Finally, a win.”

Sakuraba frowned at me as I made a gut punch.

“You’ve got me. I thought for sure you were going to make it look like a three-pointer again and cut your way inside.”

“Well, I don’t only have one pattern of movement, you see.”

At last, I was in a good mood after a series of defeats.

“Come on, boys. If your match has settled, we’re reading the script,” Hina called us from the stage in the gymnasium. 

“Well, that’s it. I’m sorry, I’m gonna have you let me get away with my win this time,” I remarked and Sakuraba nodded in response. 

“It is all right, we’ll leave the game until tomorrow. Thank you very much for practising with me.”

A week had passed since the basketball club finally went into cultural festival mode. 

Although the preparations were going well, the original activities of the club have come to a complete halt, so I had been accompanying Sakuraba in his practice whenever I could to keep his skills from getting rusty. 

“No, no, I’m glad I could help the prince.”

When I said this, he chuckled along, “Stop it, I’m not cut out for that.” 

His role on stage was that of a prince. He claimed that he didn’t fit the character, but he couldn’t be more perfect for the role. 

“If you want, Izumi can take over.”

“Please spare me.”

I shrugged my shoulders and let Sakuraba’s words drift away.

“Good work, Yamato-kun.”

As we made our way onto the stage, Yuzu, who was already waiting for us, called out to me.

“Oh, yes. So tell me, which part are we going to read today?”

When I asked, Yuzu opened the script and showed it to me.

“Yamato-kun, you’ll play the stepmother. You’ll also play the part of the mean sister.”

“Two female roles in a row… This is going to be pretty sickening.” I frowned as I checked my lines. 

“It’s no use complaining, we’re just understudies. We only read for those who are not there at the time.”

Yes, our job was to substitute for those who weren’t available due to other preparations. All we needed to do was to read the script so that the actors who would be performing in the show could learn the flow. 

“…Well, that’s right. Nothing much I can do about that.”

“Yes! I also have two roles—a minister and the narrator. Let’s do our best together!”

“Wait a minute. Isn’t it better if I play those parts?”

The cast seem to be reversed, don’t they? As I thought this way, Yuzu made a strange face at me.

“But Yamato-kun is never going to rise to the rank of minister, so I thought it would be easier for you to relate to the role of the stepmother.”

“I’m sorry to trouble you, but I’m much less likely to be a stepmother. Definitely, a minister would be easier for me to relate to.”

Just how does this girl view my future? Geez.

“Also, Yamato-kun, you’re an introverted person, so I thought maybe you’ll fumble your words if you recite the narration part with so many lines.”

“I’d give you full marks for your concern.”

She was a woman who could only score zero or a hundred. As I was astonished by her, Yuzu seemed to be bothered by yet another thing and she leaned her lips near my ear. 

“Anyway… Will Kunie-san be okay?”

In response to Yuzu’s words, I also moved my gaze to the corner of the stage. There, I found Kunie-san staring at the script with a nervous look on her face. 

She was cast as the fairy godmother—a very important role in the story. 

“Not that okay…but apparently this is the basketball club’s way of doing things. They intended for their members to build up their courage via acting in this play.”

Kunie-san seemed to be a typical type of person who was good in practice but could not show her strength in real performance. The reason why the basketball club put on a play was to build up their stage confidence, but I guess it was exactly to help develop players like her. 

“Well, Hina is there, it’ll work out somehow.”

Hina used to be as shy as Kunie-san. She was probably the most understanding of all people.

*pouts*

Yuzu grunted with disapproval clear on her face.

Oh no! Seemed like again, I was judged as having that ‘I-know-her’ vibe.

“And then here we have Yuzu-chan, who’s lovely and caring and good at making friends. Everything is perfectly in place.”

I rushed to add another comment to ease the situation, Yuzu nodded in satisfaction.

“All right. Obviously, that was a bit of a stretch, but your answer was barely passable.”

Phew… I’m saved.

“Well, let’s get on with the script reading.” 

Yuzu called out to everyone and the other club members straightened their postures.  

“Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Cinderella.”

With that narration, the story began. The first line that followed was mine. 

“Cinderella! Have you finished your dress for the ball yet?”

As I monotonously read out the stepmother’s lines, I could see Yuzu quivering on the side.

She laughed, grrr… Let’s see how I deal with her later.

“I’m sorry, Mother. I haven’t had a chance to…” Hina continued the script reading with her line. 

From there, the fairy godmother appeared and a pumpkin carriage took Cinderella to the ball. There she encountered the prince and left off leaving a glass slipper behind. 

After reading the story through, we put down our scripts; it was the start of the review session. 

""

The first to speak was Yuzu, “Hm, anyway, we should change Yamato-kun’s roles. It’s just plain creepy and hard to concentrate while listening to it.” 

“That’s what I think more than anyone else!”

This was what people call adding insult to injury.

“Anyway, everyone is fumbling with their lines. I think we need to be able to say each line properly first, rather than practising all the way through.”

When Hina summed it up with a wry smile, Sakuraba nodded.

“I agree. We can’t practice like this. Is that okay with you, Kunie-san?”

“Y-Yes!” Suddenly being pointed out, Kunie-san nodded with awkward movements like a rusty tin doll. 

Then Sakuraba swept her gaze over everyone.

“So we’ll have individual practice from now on. In thirty minutes we’ll go through the general practice again, so keep that in mind.”