Volume 2 - CH 3.5

There was too much to do and too little time to prepare.

We had no time to even ask for the moon, we hurriedly prepared until it was five minutes before the show was due to start.

“The magic doesn’t last forever; it’s broken at midnight…”1 In the dimly lit space offstage, I recited my lines over and over.

─I had studied acting a long time ago.

When I entered middle school, I decided to change myself. So I learned how to smile, how to give a friendly greeting, and how to speak in front of others. I practised desperately and repeatedly to become someone I was not.

In the end, I couldn’t really ace at it, and I ended up with an acted-out personality, but never had I thought that the experience would come in handy here.

“Yamato, are you okay?” Suddenly, Hina─dressed in the ragged costume of early Cinderella─called out to me with concern.

“Oh. Well, I’ll manage, somehow.”

I gave her a half-hearted smile, and she relaxed her shoulders, perhaps feeling relieved.

“If Yamato says so, then it must be all right.”

“You’re pretty trusting, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Because today, Yamato, you look like how you used to be during middle school.”

“…”

I was at a loss for words, but Hina turned her kind eyes to me.

“If Yamato says he’ll manage, then he’ll really do. I thought so, and so did everyone else.”

“You’re overestimating me…I’m not that big of a deal,” I denied her overvaluation of me, but Hina’s expression didn’t change.

“Maybe. But if you play the role of the fairy godmother, you’re already familiar with that role, aren’t you? So we’ll be fine today.”

Hina’s words made me raise my eyebrows.

“Familiar? I’ve never played a fairy godmother before.”

Hina shook her head at my repeated denials, “You see, you’ve changed me. You took me out of the days when I was folding 1,000 paper cranes by myself… and let me make friends. I never told you this before, but I’ve always been grateful to you.”

“…I see.”

My heart ached.

I arbitrarily led her out, and then arbitrarily stayed away and hurt her in the process. Aside from being chastised, it never occurred to me that I would be thanked instead.

“So, Yamato will be fine. If you’re playing the godmother, you can do it better than anyone else.”

“…yeah.”

She giggled a little, and I giggled back.

“Hey, guys, let’s form a circle before the show.” Suddenly, Yuzu─dressed in a prince’s costume─made a suggestion.

There was a word for a beautiful woman in men’s clothing, and Yuzu fit the description perfectly. Perhaps that suggestion was made by the gorgeous her, even those who were nervous before the show nodded their heads happily.

“I like that.”

“Let’s do it! Let’s do it!”

A circle was formed by the gathering basketball team members. Hina and I also joined the circle.

Yuzu saw Hina and gave her a mischievous smile.

“Then let’s have Cinderella, the star of the show, do the shout-out, shall we?”

“Me?” Hina’s eyes blinked at Yuzu’s reckless request.

In the past, she would have turned red and fallen silent, but now she had grown up; with a single wry smile, she nodded her head at Yuzu’s reckless gesture and opened her mouth in a calm manner.

“Then here I go… First of all, we had some serious trouble right before the event, but I feel very confident that we were all able to get through it together like this. I am sure that with this group, we will be able to make it a success. Let’s all work together to make it through, for Sakuraba-kun and Sanae too! Let’s do our best for the show!”

“YEAH!!!” 

We were all in the same spirit of enthusiasm.

""

─And so, the curtain opened on the stage.

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

With a calm narration, the play ‘Cinderella’ began.

“Cinderella, is Cinderella here?”

“Here I am, Mother.”

Cinderella was mistreated by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters.

“Are you worried about Hiiragi?” I was peeking from side stage, and before I knew it, Yuzu was standing next to me, dressed as a prince.

“I was just minding my own turn to appear…nothing more.”

“I see.” Yuzu quietly nodded her head in response to my spur-of-the-moment words.

I was sure she was aware of my hidden feelings though.

“You know, Hiiragi-san wants Yamato-kun to return to how you used to be. Besides, she was hoping that maybe through the festival, you’ll return to your former self.”

“…”

Yuzu continued to speak, not caring that I stayed silent.

“I kind of thought the same. When I saw Yamato-kun taking a leadership role at the festival…no, since that time when you saved us from falling apart. I thought maybe, this is the original Yamato-kun.”

“I’d like to know what you mean by ‘original’. The normal me is the authentic me, okay.” Yuzu smiled at the words I managed to squeeze out.

“Maybe. But you are someone who can work hard for others’ sake. That’s undoubtedly another aspect of you, Yamato.” Before long, Yuzu’s smile turned a little sad as she continued, “Somehow, it made me think… Like, is it okay for me to keep that you to myself?”

Ahead of me or even Hina, Yuzu was trying to reach her own conclusion.

Impulsively, I spoke, “Hey─”

“It was then that the fairy godmother appeared before Cinderella.”

Before I could turn my heart-pounding feelings into words, the narration brutally announced my cue.

“It’s your turn, go on.”

“…Okay.” I nodded to Yuzu as she saw me off whilst I suppressed the whirling emotions inside.

Then, I stepped out onto the stage where the spotlight shone on me. In front of me was Cinderella, standing alone in a dark room, having missed the ball.

“Who are you?”

The lonely girl approached me with slightly frightened looks in her eyes.

I smiled at her.

“I’m just a passing fairy godmother. It’s the festive night of the royal ball, but I saw you crying alone here, so I came to see you. What are you crying so much about?”

─So nostalgic.

Suddenly, such a thought came to me.

An image fleeted on my mind–Hina folding thousand paper cranes all by herself in the classroom bathed by sunset.

“Yes. There is such a festive ball going on and yet… I don’t have a dress to go there. No carriage, and no shoes,” Cinderella mumbled sadly.

I understood her situation as I listened to her, so I would get her out of this dark room.

“Alright, so I shall prepare them for you. Eins, zwei, drei!2” I chanted as I exaggeratedly shook my wand, and the stage went dark aside from me.

“Oops? The magic doesn’t feel right. Hmmm, maybe because it’s Halloween? All right, since we’re here, let’s match my chant to this day Eins, Zwei, Halloween!” When the chant was repeated, the lights came back on the stage.

Then, a pumpkin carriage wearing a witch’s hat and Cinderella dressed in a special black and orange Halloween dress appeared.

“Wow, what a lovely dress!” Cinderella was impressed with her own costume.

There was still a hairpin in her hair that was not her stage costume.

“I’m glad you like it. But you have to be careful, okay? the magic doesn’t last forever. It will be lifted at midnight.”

Ah, but I guess there was no need to worry. She would surely stand on her own feet and have a happy ending before the spell broke.

“I understand. I’ll be careful.” Cinderella nodded with a smile.

“Yeah. The costume is important, but the most important thing is your smile. You’re so cute, it’s a waste to keep your head down.”

Those were words I once uttered somewhere in the past.3

Hina looked a little surprised at this and nodded softly. “…Yeah. Thanks.”

So nostalgic. Very much so.

Pulling Hina’s hand and letting her into the basketball team. Along with that, it was undeniable that we had become the best of friends.

“Yamato-kun, with that friend you had failed to—nuh-uh, it’s nothing.”4‘

The truth was, I knew what Yuzu had wanted to say.

─With that friend you had failed to reconcile, don’t you want to start over?

“Then let’s head to the banquet hall.” I held out my hand to escort Cinderella and she immediately gripped my hand.

“Yes.”

The hand I had pulled once─and then let go─I pulled again.

Maybe we could start over again from here. Just as Yuzu was able to start over with Kotani, Sakuraba, and Namase.

I might have a chance to start over again.

“Have a good day.” I saw Cinderella off as she boarded the pumpkin carriage.

There’s no need to mention what happened from there. The prince and Cinderella danced gracefully amidst a mob of people dressed in Halloween costumes. Yuzu’s acting and dancing were so solid that it was hard to believe she was a hastily made actress, and her male disguise was so good that it irked me.

Then, at midnight, the magic was broken, and the prince found the owner of the glass slipper in the end─the preset happy ending.

And so our play was over.