LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Night Blooming Flower
Chapter 19: Night Blooming Flower
"Hey, Kiyoshi *cough*, can we talk for a second?" Joe tried talking to his friend, looking for answers about the script he read ours before.
"I-I'm sorry Joe, this is not the best moment…" Kiyoshi just gave his friend a worried look while looking directly at his phone.
"You okay dude? You've been like this for hours" Shingo, who was just slacking off suddenly joined the conversation.
"I-I'm sorry, I need some fresh air…" The blue haired boy said as he left the room, leaving the ant-boy and the young delinquent to talk in private.
"..."
"... What's up with him?"
"I… Don't know…" Joe just stared at the door, but suddenly changed the topic. "Anyways, have you seen this?" He asked as he pointed at the script.
"What about it?"
"Have you read what happens at the end of the story?"
"What do you mean? The prince just defeats the evil mother, that's it, right?"
"..." Instead of answering, Joe just handed him the copy of the script.
While the blonde boy read the papers brought by his friend, Kiyoshi stormed out of his room. Not worried about the play itself, rather about his parents' sudden confirmation of assistance.
'This is the worst… If they come here… The little reputation I had left is at stake!' He thought as both his hands squashed his head.
As he suffered in silence, a figure looked at him through the corners of the school buildings.
'Kiyoshi-dono… Yours truly is nothing but a traitor… But I guess now this pays our debt…'
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Flashback:
16th of July, Monday.
"How about… a kiss?"
"E-EH?!"
Kate looked at the boy, who held a surprised and blushing face.
"So… What do you say?"
"K-Kate-dono… Yours truly is really surprised at this sudden confession but… As I said before, my heart belongs to another…"
Kate looked at him with a confused look, only to blush as sudden as the realization of her words came in.
"G-Geez, I didn't mean that! I meant I want a kiss to appear in the script… As well as some small changes…"
"... E-Eh? Changes to the script of 'Rapunzel'? And a kiss of all things?"
"You see…" Kate said as she interlocked her own hands. "I want to help the little couple with their love dilemma"
Gakuto just looked at her with a thousand questions in his head.
"E-Erm… And that couple is?"
"Mmm? Kiyoshi and Hana, of course!"
Gakuto just stared at her… And after a few seconds, he started laughing.
"PFFF HAHAHA, TO THINK YOU WOULD BE SUCH A COMEDIAN, KATE-DONO! KIYOSHI-DONO AND HANA-DONO TOGETHER? HILARIOUS!"
"..."
"...Haha…Ha…"
"..."
"... Y-You're serious about this?"
"Of course I am, they are a couple after all"
Gakuto just looked at how serious and honest Kate's face was and started doubting his own thoughts.
'B-But that's impossible! Kiyoshi-dono loves Chiyo-dono! That's a well known fact between us males! And to think he would be with someone like Hana-dono of all people… I've never seen even a slight proof of them being togeth-'
Suddenly, Gakuto's face changed.
'Today… As I was looking at Kiyoshi-dono's phone… He suddenly took my phone because he didn't want me to see his chats with Hana-dono…'
"..."
"... So you finally realized?" The orange haired girl asked.
"... Yours truly can't believe it… Maybe I should talk to Kiyoshi-dono about this-"
"No! Just follow my guide and I'll get you a proper chance to talk with Mitsuko-chan, what do you say?"
"..."
'M-Maybe Kiyoshi-dono does actually like Hana-dono? Or maybe he's using this as a way to forget about Chiyo-dono and his apparent failure of a confession…'
"... I'm in"
Kate just smirked at him and told him the details of her plan.
End of Flashback.
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'If everything goes well and according to Kate-dono's plan… Mitsuko-dono should be helping us during the play… And during her assistance on the show, I'll be able to talk to her for a brief second… I shall use that time to get my redemption' Gakuto thought as he looked at the corner.
What he didn't realize, was the girl standing behind him.
"Hey, you"
"G-GAH!" As he turned his back, he found Bitch looking right at him with a neutral face. "B-Bitch-dono, it's truly a surprise to find you here! hehe!"
"Hmm… Spying on your own friends, huh? What are you planning"
"W-Well, you see-"
"I'm kidding… I know about your plan to regain Mitsuko-chan's trust. Kate asked for my help"
"W-What?" Gakuto's face showed great surprise and a bit of fear.
"Well… Guess she doesn't know what happened in their office that day… So she asked me to supervise Mitsuko-chan's cafe while she helped you guys on your play thing" She said with a slightly annoyed face.
"I-I see… I'm truly sorry… One guesses it would be really inconsiderate to ask for your help in this. I'll talk to Kate-dono…" Gakuto said with a truly repented face.
"..."
As he looked at the ground, Bitch laid one finger on his chin, slightly pulling it up in a sensual way.
"... Dummy… I'll help you do it…"
"W-What?"
18th of July, Wednesday. (2 days until the festival)
Hana's POV:
So… Two days left for the festival, huh?
This week I've been doing nothing but practice.
Practice my karate, so I could give the best performance possible.
Practice my acting, so I could at least not humiliate myself on stage.
And lastly, practice my speaking… so I could… Uhm…
…
I wanted to talk to somebody.
Since the talk I had with Kate, I've been having a lot of stuff go through my head…
I simply asked her for a better way to interpret the 'Rapunzel' role in the boys play. Hell, now that they changed the script so many times, I'm almost not even the protagonist. Yet I asked her for some help to be more like her…
And the answer she gave me… 'You don't have to be anyone else but you'.
T-The hell did she mean by that?
...
Suddenly, for a split second, I saw myself in the girl's bathroom doing sumo stomps with a brown haired girl.
…
"Hey there" Before I could even react, Mitsuko and Risa were standing beside me.
"W-Wha?! What are you two doing here?"
"How rude… I just brought you the new script the boys wrote, I thought you should have a copy, 'Rapunzel'" Said Risa with a mocking smirk.
I quickly grabbed the script from her hands.
"Well, 'Ms Knight', maybe you should knock the next time you come by"
"S-Sorry, we entered because we saw the door opened…" Poor Mitsuko-san said with a trembling voice. Now I feel a bit guilty.
But… What really grabbed my attention was the renewed script. It was almost the fourth time they changed it last second, and I haven't heard anything from the others about it.
Peeking through the door, I could see two other people: A girl with pony tails and some glasses, Satou-san and a shitty hood-wearing boy, Joe. The latter was looking at me with a terrified face…
"So… They changed the script again? What did you do this time?" I asked while looking at the pig's direction.
"W-Wait, Hana-san *cough*, I have nothing to do with these changes, I swear!" He said as he bowed his head with horror in his… mouth?
Just what could be so terrible about this script…
"U-Uhm… Hana-san, I believe you still have time to ask the guys to change it…"
I continued reading my part, looking at how almost anything changed… But I noticed my last page was a bit longer than usual… Just one extra row appeared on my part…
"Y-Yeah, in any case, I can just *cough* ask Gakuto to revert it back to normal"
While the two of them spoke, my ears closed slightly the moment my eyes reached the end of dialogue with 'The Prince'.
"... what?"
…
What am I reading?
"E-Ehm… M-Maybe we should go, Joe-kun"
"Y-Yes… M-Maybe we shoul-"
"You… Stay here" I quickly said to the boy in front of me.
"O-O-Okay!"
I watched as the others left the room. Mitsuko gave a worried and scared look at me, while Risa pretty much maintained her poker face.
As for the boy, he looked at me with horror in his eyes.
"... What's the meaning of this"
"U-Uhm… I-I don't really know, Gakuto was the one who wrote the-"
"What does this mean?" I pointed at the 'After reaching the ground, Rapunzel kisses The Prince' line of dialogue the script had wroten on it.
"W-Well, that would t-that you and the prince woul-" I grabbed the boy by the collar bone of his school uniform.
"I KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS DAMN IT! I WANT TO KNOW WHY DID HE SUDDENLY ADD SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"W-W-Well, uhm m-maybe it's more like a kiss on the cheek or… uhm…"
"A KISS ON THE CHEEK? ARE YOU READING THIS? IT SAYS 'KISS'!"
"Y-Yes, I *cough**cough* know that b-but u-uhm… I–I can't change it myself…"
"..." I let go of Joe.
A kiss?
What the actual fuck is going in that shitty four-glasses piece of thrash?
He didn't even ask me if I was okay with something like this! He just… added it!
…
Suddenly… A question apparead through my head… One that made me blush…
…
In my mix of emotions and my desire to talk my feelings out… I let that question ask itself.
"... What did Kiyoshi say about this?"
"H-Huh?... O-Oh… well…" Joe thought for a long moment about what to answer… "He didn't really seem to worry about it"
"..."
I took a long breath. Just low enough so that nobody could hear it…
"... I see…" I answered. "Go know… I'll talk to that thrash later…"
"Y-Yes Ma'am!"
And so he left the room…
Once I was alone again… A sudden blush appeared on my face…
"... S-So… you don't care about the whole school seeing us kiss?... Asshole…"
I muttered to myself.
…
I found myself in a semi-fetal position on the USC's sofa… My body felt really weak at that moment…
But…
If it was with him… For some reason I feel like I can do anything.
[...]
After carefully reading the rest of the script, I also noted how Meiko is now part of the play two, while Mitsuko takes her place backstage making sure everything goes alright…
The thing is that… Even if they want me to kiss… 'The prince', I don't know if I'll be able to do so…
The other times I did… Let's say I got the strength to do it due to the circumstances we were in… But to do it spontaneously? I'm not sure I can do it…
And to think he would be alright with all of this… What does that even mean?...
On a side note, I contacted my parents to see if they were coming to the festival, and to no one's surprise, they were not.
That got me wondering if they would come to the real festival in November… It's not that I really care about family or something, I just felt strangely melancholic now that's my… Last year in this school…
…
I wonder if Kiyoshi's parents will come here… I would like to see where that dipshit side of him came from…
I also wonder…
What will happen once I graduate from this school?... I have been looking at some universities and my grades are pretty good but…
Will I be able to see Meiko from time to time? What about my classmates?...
What about…?
Well, there's still half a year to see what happens… And I still have time to make some other friends…
…
And so, for the first time in a while… I felt lonely.
Not sad, nor angry, nor anything else… Just… Lonely.
Apparently, Meiko was really occupied today, probably doing her best to learn a script in less than 2 days too, so I can't blame her.
And well… I don't really want to meet with a classmate or clubmate today…
…
For a second, the dumb idea of looking for either the asshole and the only girl that I shouldn't talk to…
Maybe… As well as Kiyoshi, my brain got slightly damaged due to the recent events.
Heh…
And so… I made an even more stupid decision and looked for the only person who I thought I could talk to right now…
End of Hana's POV.
Risa's POV:
As another long day of classes and working for the ASC ended, I decided to take a break on the school yard.
I wanted to hang with Andre… But he wanted to help the guys with the final preparations for the festival… Can't say anything to that…
But uhm… This made me realize that we've been… 'Dating' for almost two weeks now…
D-Damn… I thought I would never get into this type of situation and now I'm here… Going out with Andre of all people… But I must say…
I'm actually really happy…
Right now I'm probably making an ugly and dumb smile, but lately I can't help myself to do so…
…
While I sat and looked up at the sky… I began to think about how good this year has been for me… The ASC got into power for the first time, even if it was for a short time, I got to finally call someone my 'best friend', I managed to… Find love… And I feel like I'm overall happier with myself…
"Wow…"
And to think all of this happened because of the boys joining school… If it wasn't for that… The councils would have probably remained the same, the year would have been a boring fight over power just like the last few years…
And to think that the USC tried its best to make the guys leave school… Not only to fail, but to befriend them in the long run… Just like us, really…
…
What was so different about both councils then?
"Daydreaming in the middle of the yard, huh?" Suddenly, a voice appeared from my left…
"Ah… Hey Hana" The blonde girl stared at me with an unusual face. "Is… Something wrong?"
"... N-No… I was just wondering…"
"...?"
"If you uhm… wanted to t-talk?" She said with a blushing and embarrassed face.
"What? That's it?" I looked at her a bit dumbfounded.
"H-Hey! I'm trying to be polite and talk like two normal people here!"
"...U-Uhm… Sorry… Sure, let's talk"
And so she sat beside me.
Without really knowing how to engage in a conversation with her, I just continued staring into the sky.
"They are really pretty, aren't they?" She started looking at them too.
"Yeah… They are"
"... So uhm… How was your Tanabata?"
As I prepared to answer her question, I suddenly remembered that day. If it wasn't because of Andre, I would have probably spent it by myself in my room, or maybe Kate would have asked me to do something with her? I don't really know…
"It was… Fun, really. That day I finally understood who was the person I loved the most"
Hana suddenly looked at me with a surprised face. Can't say I wasn't surprised about what I said too.
"W-Wow…"
"S-Sorry, that came out even more corny than what I thought"
"... Nah, it's okay… So you guys really are an item, huh? I still can't really believe a girl like you started dating a guy like Andre… a guy in general" She said while still looking at the stars… Was that an insult?
"... Yeah… To be honest, I can't believe it either… To think someone would like me… And I also like him back… Unbelievable…"
"..."
The silence grew stronger as Hana's bangs didn't let me see the upper part of her face… And it suddenly started bothering me…
"*Sigh*... Well… What is it?"
"Huh?" She seemed a bit surprised by my question
"Well… You wanted to talk, didn't you?" I decided to be straightforward with it. "For some reason I don't really know, you were looking for me to talk about something, right?"
"..."
"So… Let's do so…. Today I feel like I can answer every single question you ask me"
And I wasn't lying… Maybe it's because everything feels like a good dream recently… But I feel like I know everything I should know now…
"..." Hana suddenly changed the way she was sitting, making a fetal position. "... I guess I wanted to ask someone about how I should really feel about the future…"
"... The future?... Really?" Of every single topic we could talk about… This could be one of the most challenging ones for me… "Uhm… Sure… What is it?"
"... Maybe this will be an ugly question but… What would happen to Andre and you once school ends?"
…
"Well… Once I graduate… I'll have to meet Andre on weekends probably, as he'll be dealing with his school and maybe I'll be at university…"
"..."
"But… Our relationship won't end when this year does… Right?"
Heh… I'm really bad at thinking about what's about to come… Let alone to think about our graduation is a bit too much… But I feel like… Andre and I…
"We are more than two students who met at school… We're in love" I said with a slight blush on my face, yet determined to make my point clear.
"... I hope you do…" Hana looked at me for half a second, then set her head in between her legs.
"... T-Thanks…" I stared at her for a long second… Thinking about what to say next… "... Do you… are you scared of losing someone, right?" I thought about just plainly asking if she liked someone, but last time I did she just puked at me…
"... I-I guess I am…" She said without looking at me.
Well… I guessed so… But maybe it's not what I thought…
Suddenly… I felt the necessity to be honest to her about a small lie I told her.
"You know… Andre and I aren't officially a couple, to say so…"
"...e-eh?"
"Well, I told you before we were boyfriend and girlfriend… But we didn't really talk about that yet… We're just dating…"
"..."
"Maybe… One day, I'll just ask him to call me like that… But for now… We'll just take small steps towards a greater relationship…"
"..."
"... I-It can take a long time for us to be ready… But once we are… If that ever happens… I'll be ready to call him 'my boyfriend'... Until that… The uhm… 'journey' we spent together… Is the only thing I really care about"
"..." She remained quiet…
And I decided to follow her silence…
We both just sat there, looking at the now almost empty sky… Only a few stars could be seen in the sky…
Maybe… Just maybe… I felt like these words came out of my mouth… Were some of the words I wanted to hear too… But I'm too shy to ask for someone to say them…
At the end… I feel like I haven't helped her at all… I feel like I just talked without listening to whatever she wanted to say…
"Thank you"
She said with a calmed voice, as she looked to the sky once again.
I felt a strange feeling on my chest. But I couldn't help but appreciate the few stars left a little more.
"... Thank you too, Hana"
"... I think that… You can be really wise from time to time…"
"... And you are a really good listener…"
"..."
"..."
"... Maybe after we graduate… I'll tell Meiko to invite Kate, Mitsuko and you out to try some new teas I blend…"
"... That would be really good actually…"
"..."
"..."
"... Do you think we could talk like this from time to time?"
"... Yeah… Whenever you feel like it…"
And since that day… Without really saying it out loud…
I gained a friend.
To be continued…
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