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"Okay, settle down! Sensei is in an important faculty meeting right now, so I'll be in charge for a moment. We need to talk about what to do for our cultural festival next week." Akane announced to the whole class upfront.
"Cultural festival? I almost forgot that was coming soon." Nene muttered to herself, just as the rest of their classmates quieted down to listen to their class president.
"How about a performance? As far as I know about, no class has assigned that yet." Aoi suggested with a smile, with other students quick to agree.
"Yeah, that could be neat!"
"As long as I don't have that many roles, I'm fine too."
Nene could just sweatdrop when Akane also quickly agreed with whatever Aoi said. Akane-kun, I really worry for your future if you keep this up...
She heard Lemon nearby snapping a picture at the sight, rolling his eyes. "What's the point of the meeting then if you're only agreeing to Akane-san..."
"Right! It's settled then, our class's holding a performance! If anyone has any suggestions on what kind of performance, feel free to speak up!"
A performance, huh... Nene thought. A concert? No, I heard another class was doing that. Well, if that's the case...
"How about a class play?" She lifted her hand up. "In case we don't have enough people, we can ask Class 1-B to join us too."
"Oh, that's a great idea, Nene-chan!" Aoi praised. "We should do the story of Cinderella. The class last year did Romeo and Juliet, so I think it would be appropriate."
"Ao-chan, you're so smart!" Everyone just sighed at Akane once again ignoring everyone else but Aoi. In the end, however, Nene's idea got approved anyway.
They gathered most of Class 1-B over to their meeting (mostly the class representatives). Nene almost didn't notice anyone coming in until a tap on her shoulder made her jump.
"Eek! What the-" She whirled her head to look behind her, almost colliding with a very familiar face. Instantly her cheeks grew red, quickly turning away.
"D-Don't scare me like that, Amane-kun!"
Said culprit just laughed, patting her head. "Sorry, sorry. You looked like you were stuck on daydream land again, so I had to pull you back. Don't want my favorite radish to drift away, hm?"
She pouted, taking the notebook on her desk and covering her face with it. It was absolutely no fair of him, saying such words and expecting for her not to react.
"Alright then, we're going to be voting for cast members. Raise your hand if you wanna nominate someone for a role!" Akane spoke once more, one of the other class's representatives near the board to write down names.
The voting for Cinderella's role went quicker than expected. For obvious reasons, Aoi was immediately voted for the most, making her land the role. Nene knew it was inevitable, but she couldn't help but feel disappointed at how her classmates didn't even think twice.
We could have at least be a little creative in our nominations, everyone! Geez...
Then came the prince's role. Almost immediately Akane wrote himself on the board. "If Ao-chan's Cinderella, it's only obvious for me to be her prince!"
"Hey, now that's no fair, Aoi!"
"Why not someone from our class?" One of Class 1-B, Mei, suggested.
"Who do you suggest, Mei-chan?" Nene asked. Everyone else seemed to be curious who'd she nominate.
There seemed to be a knowing look on her eyes, and she played it off with an innocent smile. "I nominate Yugi-san, of course."
Both Nene and Amane were just as surprised at Mei's words. "That's a little strange now, Shijima-san. I don't even think I'm qualified for that sort of role."
"Sure you are. You're already pretty popular with the girls. Plus you're always flirting with Nene-chan, so you can probably put your skills to use in the stage."
"H-he doesn't flirt with me!" Furiously blushing, Nene shook her head. If you can call him calling me a radish and making fun of my legs flirting, there's something seriously wrong with you!
Amane went quiet, averting his eyes to the side. He didn't say a single word, but for some reason, Nene could see a hint of red over his face.
Was he embarrassed?
Although Akane even interjected with his refusal, the voting eventually began, and much to his chagrin, Amane had outnumbered him, and got the prince's role.
"Akane's gonna kill me, is he?" He observed the fuming class president eyeing him with malice across the room.
Nene sighed. "He's just being dramatic. Aren't you happy, Amane-kun? You get to be on stage with Aoi."
...And shouldn't I be happy, too?
Amane shrugged his shoulders. "I guess so."
"That's good to hear, then." The way her voice wavered with sadness didn't slip from his attention, as he leaned close to her side.
"Don't tell me... you're jealous, Yashiro?"
As if his suspicions were confirmed, she froze for a second. She was quick in smacking him with her notebook though. "D-Don't be ridiculous, Amane-kun. I'm not jealous, that's stupid."
Instead of countering back, he only chuckled, folding his hands to his back as he retreated himself away, a satisfied smile on his face. "I see."
Nene didn't understand how his mind worked at all. He was so weird.
More voting took place afterwards, and before anyone knew it, it was already lunchtime.
"Aoi, you're gonna be playing as Cinderella! I'm so excited!" Nene gushed over her friend as they both walked to the cafeteria.
"I wish you could have been voted with the cast list, though. It's much fun with you, Nene-chan."
"Don't worry. I'm part of the team in charge of the script, so at least I'll still be around somehow." Luckily for Nene, she had been chosen to help write the script for the performance, as well as help direct their cast for rehearsals.
Aoi noticed how quiet her friend had been, though. She had a feeling it had something to do with what happened earlier.
"Nene-chan... Do you have a crush on Yugi-kun?"
"Ah-huh? W-where did that come from, Aoi?" Nervously she laughed, trying to brush her question off. Come to think of it, what is it with me denying things a lot lately?
"Just a guess. You two are pretty close, after all." Aoi smiled. "And he seems to like you, too. No boy would stick this long to you other than him."
Admittedly, as embarrassed Nene was, she felt a little lighter from those words, as if a heavy load had lifted away from her chest. Now of course, as if she'd ever say that out loud to anyone, especially to Amane.
"That's just him being a nuisance. Him and his brother annoy me a lot, even you know that." That's right. There's no way he likes me like that. And there's no way I have a crush on him! Aoi, you know I like princely types like Minamoto-senpai!
"But... he can be nice sometimes, though. That doesn't mean I have a crush on him! There's nothing wrong in admiring your friend, after all!" Nene said after a second's worth of a pause. Aoi giggled, shaking her head.
"If you say so, Nene-chan. You know, it's fine if you want to be on stage together with him. You two would make a perfect fit."
"I-I said I don't like him like that!"
It was now day 3 of preparing for the cultural festival, and Class 1-A and 1-B were now in the middle of rehearsals for their performance. To their luck, the drama club had allowed them to borrow their auditorium, which was soon filled with busy students going back and forth.
Afternoon had come, and Nene was alone in the quiet classroom finishing up the rest of their script while the rest of her classmates busied themselves in the auditorium. Sometimes she needed some peace and quiet to do her work, after all.
I wonder how their rehearsals are going... Must be fun... Her mind wandered to what the end result would be like of their class performance, eyes unconsciously going down on the script in front of her.
Cinderella and the prince finally reunite, and they seal their vows with a kiss~
"Ugh... why am I like this." She hit her head on her desk, groaning to herself. Various unwanted images filled her brain, as if to taunt her.
Well... Aoi's the queen of the school, and Amane-kun's fairly getting popular lately, so it's no surprise that they do go well together...
"Yashiro? There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." As if today hadn't been weird enough, Amane had to appear in the classroom, his head popping up by the doorway.
"Didn't I tell you I'd be here? And why aren't you with the other cast members? Shouldn't you be practicing?" She pointed her pen at him accusingly. Well, she didn't mind a distraction from her work, at least for a moment.
He could just smile, walking up to her desk and taking a seat in the other in front of her. "Aoi showed me the script you guys made so far. I didn't know you were good at stuff like that."
There he goes. If it were someone else complimenting her, it would be fine, but whenever it was Amane saying such things...
"I-It's no big deal, really. I had help from Nanamine-senpai, anyway." She grimaced when she stuttered. How come when he's around I can't speak properly?!
"Oh, that's right. Since we're on the topic of the rehearsals right now, why don't you help me practice then?" He offered, tapping on the script on her desk. That wide grin he had on his face seemed to look like the face of someone plotting something, Nene could tell.
"Help you practice? I don't think I'm the best person for that, Amane-kun-hey!" She was caught off guard when he plucked the pen she was holding from her hands and pulled her from her seat, forcing her to stand up.
"Come on, it'll be fun!" Nene had to roll her eyes at his enthusiasm, but somehow she kinda felt... elated? Nevertheless it made her happy he was coming to her for help.
"Okay, okay. I'll pretend to be Cinderella and you can practice your lines on me. But I'm warning you, I can get pretty harsh with my criticism!"
He merely laughed, nodding at her terms. "Well, at least you're not like Shijima-san making fun of me all the time."
Nene picked up the script, suddenly feeling nervous. What was that all of a sudden? She was only helping him rehearse his lines, so there was no harm in doing so!
Why did her face feel so warm?
"Alrighty then... Cinderella here goes first." She cleared her throat, probably to also get rid of most of the nervousness piling up. She took a breath, gathering her courage to look at him.
"My dear prince, thank you for this dance. It truly feels like this night has become a dream come true, having the chance to be here with you."
She did a little curtsy to him, and they both stifled a laugh. Right now they looked rather silly.
"Wow, you're really going all out with that, huh?" Amane teased, earning him a half-assed glare from the girl.
"Oh, cut me some slack. It's your turn."
He put a hand over his chest, his other hand put out to her. For some reason, the afternoon sun that shone through the red curtains gave him that warm, heavenly glow, just like how she'd imagine her daydream princes would appear with.
"The same goes for me, Cinderella. I've truly never felt this way until you came along. If you would have me, I'd... like for you to stay here, and be by my side."
Oh, how she wished that smile he was wearing right now was truly meant for her.
Eh-no, I shouldn't be thinking of stuff like that! I'm helping Amane-kun with his rehearsals, that's it!
"Amane, are you here-oh!" Before any of them could continue with practice, Amane's younger brother Tsukasa had unceremoniously appeared, interrupting them.
An awkward silence followed.
"No way! Are you confessing to Nene-chan?" There was an excited look on Tsukasa's face as he ran and tackled his brother, almost dropping onto the floor.
"Ack-what-no! I wasn't doing that! Get off!"
"Really? Doesn't seem like you're telling the truth, though."
"He's right, Tsukasa-kun! I was just helping him practice for the school play." Nene interjected, just as Amane finally pushed his brother off his back, catching his breath.
Tsukasa let out a long disappointed groan, arms flailing about half-heartedly. "Bummer."
"Why do you look so disappointed about it?!"
"I mean, don't you like h-" Unfortunately for Tsukasa, he wasn't able to complete his sentence when Amane slapped a hand over his mouth, shutting him up.
Nene let out a giggle at their antics. "Is Akane-kun calling for him back to the auditorium?"
"Yeah! Glasses kept nagging about keeping his precious Ao-chan waiting. Honestly, he's too lenient when it comes to her." Tsukasa managed to escape his brother's grip, grinning as if he just hadn't caused trouble.
Amane sighed. "That guy won't really let me catch a break, even for rehearsals. Well, I should get going before he yells at me anymore further." He was just about to leave the classroom, before turning back to Nene.
"You are coming, right? On the day of the performance, I mean."
"Of course. Wouldn't miss it for the world." She answered, ignoring how flushed her face was probably right now. She shot him a smile, as if to reassure him.
W-w-wait! He might think of if as- "I-I-I mean, of course I would go! I worked my entire butt making this script good and I wanna see you guys do it justice!" Nene quickly added, making strange hand gestures.
"Ah, that's great, then." He wouldn't have noticed the silly grin he had on if it weren't for Tsukasa nudging him back to reality.
"Come on! You'll see your girlfriend again later! Glasses is gonna flip if you're late again!"
"Wha-she's not my-" And right before Nene's eyes, Tsukasa dragged his brother away out of the classroom, laughing and shouting along the way.
Now it was just her again. Heart pounding, that fond smile now back on her face.
Oh dear...
Today's the day, huh... I'm a bit nervous. Nene, all dressed up in her PE outfit to match the non-cast members, made her way to the auditorium to join her group backstage. Today was the day their performance was happening! All of them had been preparing for this day!
"Oh no, oh no, this is a disaster..." She heard Mei walking back and forth just as soon as she entered backstage, where most of the cast were already getting ready. The frown on her face made her think of the worst.
"Is something wrong, Mei-chan?"
"Nene-chan! Something's definitely wrong!" Mei grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking the poor girl back and forth. "Aoi's caught a cold, just when she's supposed to be in the play today!"
"Huh? Aoi's sick?" Nene tried calming Mei down, getting a bit dizzy from being shook so much. If Aoi was sick and couldn't come, that meant no one would be able to play Cinderella!
If we don't get the play going, everyone's going to be so disappointed... What do we do?
"I have an idea." Out of nowhere, Lemon appeared, Akane next to him. "Why don't you fill in her spot as Cinderella, Yashiro-san?"
"E-eh?!"
"That's right! You're one of the only people besides Ao-chan who's memorized the entire thing. You're basically the one who wrote it." Akane agreed, as Mei put her hands together in pleading.
"Please, Nene-chan! The show must go on!"
Nene waved her hands around, shaking her head furiously. "I can't be Cinderella! I don't even know half of how you guys did rehearsals, I can't-"
"You can, Yashiro." She felt a hand on her shoulder, Amane appearing by her side. "If anyone can do it, it's you. Don't worry, we'll all help you out."
She stared at him, then back at her other friends, who were looking at her expectedly. I can't really do it better than Aoi can, but...
"Fine. I'll do it."
Mei beamed at her, taking her hand and leading her to the girls' dressing room. "Then we better get you ready for the stage!"
"Only thirty minutes left! Hurry up, everyone!"
"I-I don't think this will suit me, Mei-chan..." Nene looked at the costume in her hands with awe, almost afraid to put it on.
"Nonsense, Nene-chan! It'll definitely suit you! Let's get you all prettied up, shall we?"
With a bit of struggle, Mei let herself out of the dressing room. "Hey, she's finally ready! Tell everyone to go to their positions!"
"Alright! Let's get this show on the road! We're gonna blow everyone's minds. For you, Ao-chan!!"
It was finally showtime.
(a/n: bonus points if you guys guess which manga this entire school play is based off)
In a certain place during a certain era, there was a prince on his way to the neighboring country, when all of a sudden, he was attacked by a group of bandits, which instantly defeated most of his soldiers.
The prince was backed to a corner by force. Wounded, and seemingly alone, he would have been done for if not the kindness of a girl who just so happened to come in his time of need.
"Come," she said, gesturing for the prince to follow from the bushes that concealed her. "I'll take you to a safe place."
Deciding to trust her, he managed to escape the bandits and the girl lead him somewhere far away, near the outskirts of a town. There she decided to treat his injuries, patiently tending on him with such care that even surprised him.
"It's the best I can do for your wound right now. It'd be better if you didn't push yourself, Your Highness."
The prince truly was grateful for the kindness of this stranger; this girl whose hair somewhat resembled that one vegetable he'd often see in the castle kitchens. Only meaning well, he raised his hand and patted her head.
"Thank you, radish-san."
This flustered the girl, both in embarrassment and anger, as without warning, she dashed off, yelling "I am not a radish! Moron!" before ultimately disappearing into the woods completely. He sat there, stunned, wondering what could have he said that prompted her to leave.
"Your Highness, there you are!" His soldiers finally found him afterwards, taking him back to his home kingdom, fortunately without things being uneventful like earlier. Yet the prince couldn't really stop thinking about the girl, who never gave him her name, and became really intrigued by her.
And the girl, who had unthinkingly sort of insulted the prince, couldn't really forget the kind smile he had given her. She wanted to see him again, but how can she when current circumstances don't allow her to?
S he managed to move to the capital where the castle he resided in was, finding work in a restaurant that allowed it's employees to live there at the same time.
However, a senior employee didn't really take a liking to the girl, and set out to make her life as miserable as she could. Regardless of that, our heroine kept pursuing to be the best in her job.
"Cinderella, is the cleaning done?!" The senior employee shouted at her, whilst she was just finishing her sweeping. Cinderella politely nodded.
"Yes, ma'am."
"I'll be the judge of that!" Taking one good look at the interior of the cafe, the senior employee was shocked upon seeing how clean everything was. The furniture even shined and showed her reflection clearly.
She cursed under her breath, turning back to the clueless Cinderella. "W-well, how about the cooking preparations?! The manager wants them all done this instant!"
"They've already been prepared, ma'am. Is there any more work you want me to do?" Once again, Cinderella proved to be really efficient at her work, having already helped in the making of today's menu in advance.
Damn it all, the senior employee thought. Even as a newbie, Cinderella wasn't all talk when it came to housework. She was basically wife material!
She saw one of the other employees nearby, and she stomped over to them, dragging them down to whisper, "Hey, say something to that girl. She just goes along with everything!"
"Y-yes ma'am!" The poor employee obliged, walking to Cinderella's side nervously. The senior employee smirked. Her plan was to dump everyone else's work onto Cinderella to make her job more difficult.
"Um, Cinderella, why don't I help out?"
"Oh, thank you!"
That was the last straw. "NO, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BULLY HER!!" The senior employee screamed at them, and the other employee quickly hid behind Cinderella, quivering.
"Please don't shout at her, ma'am..." Cinderella, ever unaware of the things the senior employee was doing, tried to calm them down.
"I can't help out, Cinderella... Sorry for being mean..."
"Don't worry about it, it's fine."
The senior employee could just stare at them in disbelief. "Wait, I feel like something's wrong here."
But that's now's not the time to dawdle on that. In the heart of the city, where the castle is, the prince and his friend, a neighboring country's prince, were having a somewhat... intelligent discussion.
"Hey, I have an idea." The neighboring prince said, pushing his glasses back up.
"Hm? What is it?"
"Why don't you host a ball? Didn't the king say to gather all the girls from all over the town to look for a wife and such, yeah?"
The prince frowned distastefully. "I don't want to waste all the money the people worked hard onto meaningless nothing. And plus, wouldn't it be rude for my future wife if I gathered around women and got interested in them for no reason?"
"A-are you for real right now?!" The neighboring prince exclaimed at his friend's logic. With that kind of thinking, the entire story would completely end at that!
Taking a deep breath, the neighboring prince settled back down on his chair. "Ahem... well, what about that radish girl you took interest in? Haven't you seen her around town?"
"There was a girl that looked a lot like her. I asked her if she was the radish girl, but she denied it and claimed to be someone else."
"No way, no matter how you look at it, it's clear that it was her, right?"
"She persuaded me, saying she didn't have radish legs."
"THAT'S WHAT'S IMPORTANT?!" The neighboring prince was close to tearing his hair apart, but he quickly calmed himself down. Maybe the girl was a tsundere, explaining how she rejected the prince even though it was quite obvious who she was.
"Fine. On more important terms... If you don't want a ball, then why not put out a dance party for the town's festival?"
Fortunately for him, the prince seemed interested. "You mean incorporate it into the festival?"
"Yeah, so everyone can have fun."
"Huh... that sounds like a good idea. I'll have everything prepared right away."
The neighboring prince sighed in relief, putting on a wry grin. "If things go well, you may find a wife!"
"Good luck. I'm cheering on you." His friend replied without missing a beat.
"I MEANT YOU!!!"
With that, the day of the festival arrived after a long week of preparation. While everyone else in the restaurant had left to attend the festivities, Cinderella didn't really feel like going, and stayed behind.
Just then, there was a voice calling out to her from the closed door, and she swung it open a little, peeking outside.
"Delivering dreams to good kids, the magician is here!" A black haired boy dressed up in a long cloak and a big pointy hat stopped in front of her, holding a stick on one hand.
There was no mistaking it.
This guy was definitely suspicious!
"Sorry, I can't let suspicious people in." And with that, Cinderella shut the door right at his face, and the smile he had on dropped.
"Hey, wait! Listen to me! I'm not suspicious at all!!" He pleaded, knocking on the door multiple times. Cinderella opened it again, only to stare at him with a look of warning.
"I'm telling you, I can't let you in."
"B-but, don't you wanna meet my brothe-I mean, the prince at least once?" The witch stuttered, adjusting his tipping hat on his head.
Cinderella shook her head. "The prince often comes to town."
"Eh?"
"A kingdom that rules without the knowledge of it's people's lives cannot stand."
"HUEH?!! THAT'S KINDA AWESOME OF HIM!!" The witch then cleared his throat, remembering the wand he had been holding.
"Then-Then-Oh right! The ball! You wanna go to the ball, right? I can tell you how to get there!"
"The ball..."
There was a slight look of hope on Cinderella's face, and the witch thought this was finally his chance to make her dreams come true.
Although this was shattered when she only replied, "...was called off in favor of the town's festival, apparently."
"AGHH!! FAREWELL HIGHLIGHT SCENE!!!"
If only the prince hadn't been lenient on the ball! This was too much! The witch needed to find a way to grant this stubborn girl's wishes somehow!
He readied his wand, hand trembling and face now growing into a shade of purple. "Let's see... don't you want something like... a new dress for the ball?"
"Don't need it."
"How about I grant you any wish with my magic, then?!" He perked up when Cinderella sighed, lifting her hand and pointing to the direction he came from.
"In that case, why don't you go back home?"
"YOUR WISH IS TO GO HOME?! Ugh, then... how about this?!!" Just having enough of the back and forth conundrum, the witch waved his wand, but nothing seemed to happen. Or that's what Cinderella was lead to believe.
"I have placed a curse on the prince! If he doesn't receive a true love's kiss until midnight, the prince will die!" He cackled, pleased with his feat. Surely she would come to see him now!
Some say he might even give himself a pat on the back for that moment.
"You have no reason to refuse! It would be sad if you let him die without ever even confessing your feelings to him!"
This earned him a startled look from Cinderella, and he tried not to laugh at the flustered expression she was having. "He doesn't like me that way! Are you an idiot? If you really cursed the prince, you're putting this entire kingdom in jeopardy!"
"Eheh, in order to make people happy, even I have to do evil, you know."
What he was saying was kind of cool, but the witch had now left the prince's life in peril.
"Well, Cinderella, why don't you go rescue the prince?" And with that, the witch finally left from where he came, laughing away.
Now Cinderella was in a dilemma. Sure, she could try to save the prince by k... kissing him, but she wasn't even close to a princess! No one would believe her if she told people a witch had cursed him as well, so what other option did she have?
"Wait. There might be some princesses willing to give him a true love's kiss!" She had been aware of the countless princesses wanting to marry him anyway, so she can hopefully find someone among them!
So, with that in mind (and totally not thinking about kissing the prince herself to save him), she prepared to embark on a mission to find a suitable princess to break the curse! It was time for her to show up to that dance festival!
...now if only it were that easy, though.
"I can't believe it! They wouldn't even give me even half of their time!" Cinderella tiredly slumped on the ground, exhausted out of her wits. She had spent hours trying to talk to whatever princess she could find and convince to kiss the prince, but so far, no one even batted an eye at her.
"It's because I'm not like them, is it? They won't listen to a girl who even looks remotely different." The tired girl woefully looked at the sky. The sun was now close to setting, and midnight was beginning to come. If she didn't hurry, the prince would...
Now what was she thinking?! She shouldn't give up! Not when everything was at stake!
Springing back up to her feet, she was about to try again when a harsh voice called out, "Aha! You!!"
It was the senior employee! "Thought I wouldn't catch on to your tricks, Cinderella? Spreading rumors about the prince dying, huh? So you're saying you're planning on harming him!"
What kind of nonsense was she blabbering about? Cinderella knew what she said wasn't the truth. "I'm not going to hurt him! I would never do something like that!"
"I always knew you were no good the moment you stepped into this town. Luckily for you, vile people like you belong somewhere. The castle dungeons, perhaps?"
Cinderella was horrified at the accusation. Time was running out, and she can't afford to be thrown into the dungeon. With no other choice, she ran, escaping into the woods as the senior employee shouted to the guards to seize her.
Out of breath, Cinderella hid herself behind a large tree, hearing the sounds of heavy armor clanking past by where she is. "What am I going to do? It's almost midnight...!"
"Yo, are you okay?" She jumped at the sudden greeting from right next to her, and upon recognizing who it was, she sighed in relief.
"Oh, Red Riding Hood, it's only you."
Her friend was a boy with hair resembling the color of lemons that most of the time, was hidden under a red hood. Despite looking bored usually, he packed quite the arsenal of weaponry due to had having experiences with a meddling wolf wanting to eat his grandma.
Full Metal Red Riding Hood, as they say.
"You seem to be in a pinch. What's the big rush, anyway?" He asked, and if not for the nonchalant look on his face his words would have matched the way he sounded.
So Cinderella explained what was going on so far. The blond Red Riding Hood then offered to help her find the witch and force him to break the spell himself. "No need to ask any of those prissy princesses, anyway. If you ask the witch to remove the curse, that's easier."
"Now that you mentioned it, yeah... Where does the witch live, anyway?"
"Somewhere in this forest. It's pretty hard to miss, actually."
The two of them ventured deeper into the forest, and soon they stumbled upon a very suspicious looking house. It definitely stood out among the trees, which made Cinderella think that this witch probably wasn't as cautious as he should.
"Okay, so we need to lure the witch somewhere-" Before Cinderella could finish speaking, Red Riding Hood had already stepped up to the front door and began to loudly bang on it.
"Hey, are you in here? Get out!"
"Wait a minute! Red Riding Hood, that's dangerous! What if he curses you too?!"
"Whoooo is it?" The witch immediately answered the door, and everyone fell silent. The girl couldn't believe her eyes. She didn't know who to pity in this situation.
Red Riding Hood, upon sensing that he had probably forgotten his lines, pulled out a rifle from out of nowhere, pointing it at the witch. "Surrender or I'll shoot!"
"Hah?!!"
"Red Riding Hood, no! We can't kill him! We need him to break the curse, remember?" Cinderella jumped in between them, and Red Riding Hood put away his weapon.
"Sorry, forgot that wasn't part of the script yet..."
"YOU MEAN TO SAY YOU WERE GOING TO SHOOT ME REGARDLESS?!"
Clearing her throat, gathering the other two's attention, Cinderella turned to the witch. "It's almost midnight. Can't you just break the curse on the prince and no one will have to get hurt here?"
The witch shook his head. "The curse I put on him can't be simply undone. There really isn't anything you can do besides kiss him."
"Yeah, Cinderella, why don't you kiss him anyway?" Red Riding Hood intervened, and our poor heroine became red as a tomato at the thought.
"I-I can't do that! I'm not even royalty! And he doesn't even like me like that! I'm just a weird girl with radish legs! Can't you just find someone else other than me?!" She gestured at herself, her old ragged dress the only thing that hid her ankles.
"I dunno... you seem like the exact type the prince would go for, to be honest." Both Red Riding Hood and the witch gravely nodded, which made Cinderella even frustrated than before. Why were they so insistent on making her kiss the prince?
Well... If it was to save him, however...
The clock was ticking, and she didn't really have time for any of the shenanigans she was currently dealing. "I guess I have no choice then. Fine! I'll kiss the prince!"
"Yay! Off you go to the castle then!"
"But we're too far away from the castle. How are we supposed to get there in time?"
This was when the witch lifted his wand in the air, waving it around. "Don't fear! I have a solution! Here it is!" He let out a cloud of magic in the air, and it revealed a...
"Come, hither! The Unidentified Flying Pumpkin!!" A huge flying saucer shaped pumpkin manifested right in front of them. Cinderella and Red Riding Hood were in shock, as wasn't it supposed to be a carriage?
"A carriage would be way too slow, so this bad boy can get you there in the speed of light!"
"We'll die if that happens, you know!" Despite this, Cinderella climbed in the strange vehicle, Red Riding Hood following behind her. There wasn't really much time left, but as an added bonus, she grabbed the witch along with them.
For reassurance, she claims.
"I'm basically an exile now since I got framed for something I didn't commit. How on earth would I ever get into the castle now? The prince probably hates me for that." Cinderella nervously eyed at the castle they were closely approaching. She needed a plan to sneak in there and confront the prince, but what?
"Don't worry. I'll handle that." Red Riding Hood did a thumbs up. "You just focus on finding the prince."
Meanwhile, back in the town, the prince and his friend happened to visit the restaurant, being greeted by an employee there. "Hey, is the radish girl here?"
"Radish girl? You mean Cinderella? Haven't you heard, Your Highness? She escaped from town because she was rumored to be planning to take your life."
"Huh? That's ridiculous, she'd never do something like that."
"I'm not so sure about that, Your Highness. She's not even from around here, not to mention her strange looking legs-" The neighboring prince immediately shut up when he saw the intense glare the prince was giving him.
"She saved my life! I'm not about to let any stupid rumors ruin hers! I need to find her quickly!" The prince then stormed off, as his friend heaved a tired sigh and went after him.
Back to Cinderella, the flying pumpkin landed near a secluded place just within the castle grounds, and the three of them exited and sneaked over to where the gardens were. "There's sure a lot of people here..." The witch watched with awe at the amount of people arriving to attend the dance.
"I'll make a distraction so that Cinderella can sneak past the guards. And you are going to help." Red Riding Hood lifted the witch up by the back of his clothes, and before he could even complain, they were now running towards the clueless crowd.
"HEY EVERYONE!" All eyes turned to the weird looking guy with the red hood and his companion, both somehow wearing sunglasses that sort of poorly hid their identity, standing on the stage amongst the musical equipment already prepared. Red Riding Hood and the witch let out a little smirk.
"Prepare to dance the night off! Starting right now!"
Cinderella facepalmed when music started to play. So their diversion was to put on an unsolicited concert, huh? As grateful as she was, there was probably other ways to distract someone without embarrassing themselves.
She saw the guards finally leaving their posts, probably to stop Red Riding Hood and the witch from causing more distrubances. Taking a deep breath, Cinderella went past the bustling crowd of people, managing to slip into where the prince should be.
"Alright, there's no people here... This must be the main hallway. It's gotta lead to the prince somehow!"
Luck wasn't on her side again, however, when she saw the senior employee approaching her. "You thought you could get away, Cinderella?"
"Please, just believe me! I'm not trying to harm the prince, I'm trying to save him!" Cinderella backed away slowly, getting closer and closer to the edge of the castle's balcony. It would be a very deadly drop down if she took one more step.
But the senior employee didn't believe her, as expected. "Shut your mouth! See if you could ever do this kingdom any harm ever again, freak!"
What can Cinderella do? Was this how everything ended? Failing to save the prince, the kingdom, and not to mention, confessing her feelings to him?
The senior employee lunged to grab at her, but upon doing so, Cinderella accidentally slipped and fell over the edge of the balcony. Oh, was there nothing anyone can do to save her?!
Instead of hitting the ground, Cinderella opened her eyes to find herself in the arms of none other than the prince himself. He happened to be below the balcony, making his way to the stables to get his horse and look for her around the town.
He smiled at her, and her heart fluttered at the sight. "Seems like I finally found you, Cinderella."
The witch and Red Riding Hood, who managed to escape the guards, ran up to them. "Hurry, Cinderella! There's only a few hours left!"
"Ah-right!" She turned to the prince, blushing once their eyes made contact once more. Did she really have the guts to do this? Even if it was for the purpose of saving his life, but...
Screw it! She grabbed the collar of his clothes and pulled him down to her, their lips meeting just as the clock struck midnight. Just in time for the fireworks display to commence, as above them, the night sky began to fill with lots of colors.
The curse had finally been lifted!
"Finally! My ultimate plan worked!" The witch cheered, but Red Riding Hood merely gave him a little bonk on the head.
"This entire fiasco wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you cursing the prince, stupid."
"Cinderella didn't want to follow the story so I just made up one, that's all!"
"Geez."
When Cinderella pulled away, she was overwhelmed with the amount of emotions she was feeling. She just kissed the prince! Was she too forward? Did she mess up something, somehow-
"Huh... that witch... wasn't he saying something about cursing me?" The prince interrupted her thoughts, fortunately for her, she pushed away her irrationalities for a moment to address him.
"Y-yes. He told me to give you a... a t-true love's kiss before midnight or you would die." She stuttered with whatever dignity she had left. What good is dignity when she just blatantly embarrassed herself, and in the prince's arms, no less!
But the prince chuckled, leaning forward until both their foreheads touched, just looking at her tenderly. "They say the kiss of your beloved could undo magic, but... I didn't know it could also cast them."
"Is that so...?"
"Mmhm. It seems... I was affected by magic that makes me want to get closer to you more." He smiled at Cinderella's flustered state.
Gathering up her courage to look back to him, putting on a tiny smile herself, Cinderella replied, "Me too... The same magic... also affected me."
The two of them continued to stay in that position for a while until the witch cleared his throat. "Ahem, don't you two have a dance party to get to?"
"Dance party? I don't even look the part!" Cinderella wanted to refuse, but this wasn't any problem to the witch at all.
"I told you not to worry! I got it all under control!" He raised his wand and set it on course towards her. "Dress swap!"
Before anyone could blink, Cinderella's old clothes instantly changed into a beautiful dress, and it even glittered under the light of the moon like stars. The witch crossed his arms with a cheeky grin, proud of himself.
"Yep! Now go enjoy the night away, Cinderella!"
With everything finally solved, Cinderella and the prince took their place in the festival, hand in hand, dancing together with the delighted crowd without a care in the world. Our heroine had never felt so happy before, having her dreams come true at that moment.
When the music finally ceased , she gave a little curtsy to the prince, unable to hide her smile from him. "My dear prince, thank you for this dance. It truly feels like this night has become a dream come true, having the chance to be here with you."
"The same goes for me, Cinderella. I've truly never felt this way until you came along." The prince held her hand as he spoke. Unbeknownst to her, his heart pounded wildly in his chest, the thrill of the moment still lingering about.
"If you would have me, I'd... like for you to stay here, and be by my side."
At that moment, Cinderella already knew what her answer was going to be.
"Of course."
Saying that, the prince and Cinderella embraced each other, having shared their mutual feelings for each other, and continuing to enjoy each other's company as the fun-filled festival went on the entire night.
And finally, after that entire ordeal, the witch was promptly never really seen again, although Cinderella and Red Riding Hood found out about the prince's younger twin brother and how he suspiciously acted like him. But it was probably just a coincidence and they know it was pointless to say they're the same person.
Red Riding Hood was the same as ever, and no one would really find him without brandishing a gun somewhere looking after those nasty wolves. Some say those wolves were still looking forward to eating his grandma for some reason.
Full Metal Red Riding Hood still has his chance of shooting someone, somehow.
Cinderella and the prince, finally together, now live their lives happily as they can be, which marks this strange story... a happily ever after.
"Good work, everyone!" Mei cheered as soon as the curtains were pulled down. "I can really feel that our audience enjoyed our performance! Listen to all that applause!"
"Ahh... it's finally over... I can get off this dumb costume now." Lemon pulled his red hood off his head, ruffling his own hair back into place. Despite that, he had a small grin on his face.
"We did a lot of improv in between, but I'm still glad it's a huge success. Ao-chan will be so proud!" Akane gushed to himself, while the others could only sigh at him. Leave it to Akane to still be thinking of Aoi even in different occasions.
Nene took a peek through the curtains, seeing all of the positive reactions of the audience. "Whoa... they really did like it a lot... I can't believe it."
"I'm just glad nothing got shot into my eyes." Tsukasa casually said, and Nene stared at him with shock.
S-something like that was going to be included?!
"Ooh, and by the way, Nene-chan!" Mei quickly grabbed Nene over where the boys couldn't hear. "Mind if I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Kissing the prince... did you two do that for real, I wonder? Or was it fake?" The smug look on her face told Nene everything, and she didn't like it.
"W-w-well, it depends on how you saw it! It's not my business to tell!"
"What's not your business?" Amane suddenly appeared behind her, and she began to flail her arms about in a nervous manner, face growing red.
"It's nothing! Nothing at all! You must be tired, right? Me too! Let's go get a drink!" She tugged at his hand and before he could even say anything, the two of them were now exiting backstage.
Mei smirked, making a mental note to herself to tell Aoi everything once she recovered. "Sometimes, you're just so easy to read, Nene-chan..."
"Hey, did Shijima-san say something to you?" Nene flinched at that question, and she and Amane stopped walking. What was she going to answer to that? Even if she lied, he'd probably see through it!
"Ah... it's nothing, really. She was just teasing me again."
"Really? You need to learn not to fall for her mind games all the time, Yashiro."
"Like you're any better with the same thing!" She countered, but sighed, choosing to sit near the wall of the hallway.
He sat beside her, and they both didn't speak for a few moments, listening to the cultural festival continue on from outside. The silence was shortlived, however, when Amane spoke again.
"About that kiss..."
Oh god. Is this the part where I realize how much I messed up? I didn't mean to really REALLY kiss you! Because of my stupidity, you probably hate me for that now. Maybe you wouldn't want to be friends anymore?! Or maybe—
"What... what about it?" She tried not to make it obvious that her voice wavered, like she was ready to start crying, which she thinks would probably happen any time soon.
Suddenly, right in front of her eyes, she sees him blush, avoiding eye contact with her. Seeing him flustered like that... it was so unfair for him to look so adorable, and yet, here he was.
"I know that it was just for the performance, but..." He stumbled upon his words for a bit, but he put on a goofy-looking smile, something he always did when she was around.
"I wouldn't mind... if we did that... everyday."
Her mouth opened, attempting to make a reply. But she just couldn't. She was too occupied trying to calm her heart beating so fast right now.
She settled with scooting closer to his side, leaning her head on his shoulder. He tensed for a second, but accepted her sudden boldness by letting their hands below intertwine.
"Was that a confession?" She found herself asking. This all felt too good to be true to her, and she wanted to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
He let out a laugh at that. "Depends. Will you accept?"
"What makes you so sure I will?"
"We're here together like this right now, so I'm assuming you will."
Nene just giggled at his silliness. "You're absolutely right about that."
Nothing could really amount to how he looked at her so brightly that day.
Maybe she didn't really have to worry about anything, at all.