Volume 2 - CH 4.1

“Good work, guys. Glad you all made it through.”

When we were changing in an empty room that served as a dressing room, Sakuraba, who had changed into a normal uniform, came over to us and praised us for our hard work with a smile.

“Sota, are you all right now?”

“Don’t force yourself, okay?”

Sakuraba raised his hand to the worried members of the basketball team.

“I’m fine. The wound is shallow and will probably close up tomorrow. I’ll make it in time to perform on the second day of the festival.”

When he said this, the basketball team was relieved and excited.

In the end, their excitement differed according to whether he was present or not. I simply couldn’t replace him in this aspect. 

“Izumi, you’ve really saved the day,” Sakuraba thanked me as he walked up to me. 

“If you want to thank someone, then go thank Yuzu. She was the one who played your role anyway.”

Come to think of it, it was a bit pathetic for me when I said I’d take care of the rest, but to only have the role of the prince snatched away by someone else.

“Yeah, but I’m just as grateful to you, Izumi.”

“It’s fine. It’s just some work. Well, I’ve finished getting changed so I’m going.” Feeling a little embarrassed, I cut off the conversation and quickly left the dressing room. 

The fourth floor was set aside for the students to prepare. It was not accessible to the general public and was, therefore, cut off from the festive activities outside. Thanks to that, this was the perfect place to take a breather. 

“What should I do now?”

I didn’t feel like going around the festival alone. There were some people with whom I had to talk—two of them. 

“I don’t know which one will come first, but if I stay here, maybe they’ll pass by…”

As I was musing over this, a familiar female student was walking from the room the girls were using as their dressing room.

“Kunie-san,” I called out and her shoulders jolted before she looked at me. Her eyes widened. 

“Er, um, Izumi-san… Thank you for putting up with the inconvenience, and to even go as far as replacing the cast.”

Kunie-san lowered her head in a bowed and frantic manner. Unintentionally, I chuckled. 

“Don’t be so deflated. But more importantly, is your wrist okay?”

I made her look up and she responded with a slightly less tense face. “Y-yes. I was told it was probably just a bruise. I’ll be ready to go on stage tomorrow.” 

“Great, then that means I’ll be spared for tomorrow. Good luck!” I patted my chest in relief.  

“Y-yes!”

Kunie-san gave a stiff reply to my shout but immediately lowered her eyebrows as if something was bothering her. 

She then waveringly asked, “Erm… I know this is off-topic, but do you know where Hinano-chan is?”

“Hm? She’s not in the dressing room?”

“No, she’s not in there… I want to return her handkerchief, but I can’t reach her phone.” Kunie-san looked troubled as she told me. 

We were allowed to bring our phones in since we needed them to keep in touch with the rest of the class. However, we were obligated to turn them off during the show so that they wouldn’t ring during the performance. Hina must’ve forgotten to turn her phone on afterwards. 

“All right. I’ll try searching for her as well. I’ll tell her to call you if I find her.”

Because of my own personal reasons, I felt that the person I should meet first was Hina. If I didn’t settle things with her, I wouldn’t be able to go forward anywhere. 

“P-please! Then, I’ll go look for her again.”

“Okay, be careful.”

When I took on this task, Kunie-san bowed and left.

“Just where is Hina… Oh?”

I started walking without a direction. Hina might be taking a look around the school festival, but it was hard to pinpoint her amidst the crowded schoolyard. At the very least, I hoped she remained on the fourth floor. 

While I was wondering what to do, I ran into a familiar face… or rather a familiar pumpkin. That’s right! This guy who was patrolling the school might have seen Hina somewhere.

“Hey, Namase!”

When I called out to him, Namase turned to me with his pumpkin head. As I looked closer, it was a pretty scary sight. 

What’s the matter?

Namase dutifully communicated by writing in the sketchbook in order to preserve the festival’s worldview.

“Um, I’m looking for Hina, do you know where she is?” I asked and then the pen made a shuffling sound as he scribbled on his notebook. 

I saw her heading towards the gymnasium.

“Gymnasium… I see. Thanks, Namase!”

Somehow, I had an inkling of what Hina was about to do; I thanked Namase and scurried to the gymnasium. 

Today, before the play was due to be performed, there was an accident. And there would also be another performance on the next day. With that being the case, with Hina’s simple thinking, what she intended to do was equally simple.  

“Yo, Hina!”

I entered the passage below the stage. As expected, I found Hina in her witch costume, clearing the area.

“Yamato… Why are you here?”

“Well, it would be natural for the fairy godmother to come if Cinderella was doing chores all by herself.”

When I replied jokingly, Hina slipped a slight smile, as if what I said was amusing. “There was a dangerous accident today, so I thought I better clear this place by tomorrow.”

“A dangerous accident happened, and yet you are trying to clean it all alone? If something happens, what are you going to do?”

When I refuted her with a valid argument, she shrugged her shoulders, as if I had caught her in a sticky spot.

“Um, sorry, I was just…”

“You even forgot to turn on your phone. Kunie-san is looking for you, you know?”

When I pointed that out, Hina reached into her pocket and took out her phone.

“…That’s true. I’ve totally forgotten.”

While Hina switched on her phone, I looked around the passage. There were cluttered piles of costumes, disused backdrops, and small props. 

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Then again, it was no wonder an accident could happen at any time. I took a pair of work gloves from the wardrobe case and put them on. 

“Alright. Then let’s get this over with. I’ll move the big pieces first,” I said as I went to move a backdrop. 

Seeing this, Hina was bewildered. 

“Eh? Why is Yamato…?” 

“Why not, it’s quicker if we do it together, right?”

In response, Hina was a little surprised and fell silent. Afterwards, she nodded with a soft expression on her face.

“…Yup, that’s true.”

Then we both started working on the clutter.

chocolala: Hehe, finally we get to the last chapter, and mass update to boot! During the last chapter, the pagination was not well received, so I took the time to post it as usual (honestly, the hassle made me stay away from updating the chapter on top of being lazy at my parents’ home for vacation in the past few weeks)