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"What’s up?"
The door to the dressing room opens and closes. Akaya knows that it's Bunta who settles next to him on the bench when he sees the yellow gown through his periphery, but he merely grunts in response. He’s dressed in the plain Cinderella’s maid outfit set for his first scene in the play, and its aquamarine sleeves are all he sees as he hugs his knees close to his chest. The redness of his eyes brought about by Echizen’s provocation have long faded, but the shallow breathing and his quickened heart rate from his nervousness are still present. Despite this, he clenches his fist in determination, crumpling his skirt in the process – damn those Seigaku idiots! He'll show them. Kirihara Akaya doesn’t run away.
"Hey, would you look at me?" Bunta says softly, and a hand comes to gingerly coax Akaya to a proper sitting position. His senpai holds him by the chin, forcing Akaya to look at him.
He gulps when he's met with Bunta's cordial face, mere inches from his. Akaya’s gaze flits from his full, smiling lips, shining from the pink gloss applied on them, and back up to his sincere, amethyst eyes, made to look even bigger and softer with carefully applied eyeliner and false lashes. Bunta’s soft cheeks shine from a glittery highlight that catches the light as his smile gets wider, realizing Akaya's attention is properly on him and his face.
"Niou did a pretty good job, huh?" His senpai is already very pretty (and knows it), but the makeup makes him look more feminine. He looks more than ready and comfortable with his role as Cinderella’s step-sister.
"...You look good, senpai."
They're only doing a small-scale comedic play; they didn't need garish makeup, but through the help of Niou and some underclassman non-regular, Yukimura had insisted the cast still place enhancements on their facial features. They all decided to forgo wigs — the captain said their usual looks and styles would add to the comedic effect. Akaya doesn't really know what that means.
"Thanks. You should see Yagyuu," Bunta lets go of his chin, hand sliding down to intertwine with Akaya's. "And… yeah, you don't look too bad yourself."
"Not really," Akaya squeezes his hand, shrugging self-consciously. When he looked at himself in the mirror, he immediately hated how girly he looked — he wasn't like Yukimura-buchou, whose androgyny worked for him, or his Bunta, who could pull off a skirt and still look cool. He can begrudgingly admit that Niou-senpai is good at makeup (was it from all his practice with Illusion? ), successfully softening his sharp features to look softer and kinder with just fifteen minutes of work.
"Come on. You're cute, Cinderella-chan."
"Stop it," Akaya huffs. Bunta rolls his eyes before flicking him hard on the middle of his forehead. " Ow! Marui-senpai!"
"It's true, you know," Bunta says in an uncharacteristically serious tone, face suddenly free from its usual teasing expression. Akaya’s heart skips a beat, and he swallows and turns away.
They keep their hands intertwined.
Sighing, Bunta rests his head on Akaya's shoulder. The commotion outside the dressing room gets louder as the time nears for the curtains to open, and the both of them listen to the sounds of the stage preparation, quietly content with waiting for someone to go get them when everything and everyone else is set. Akaya doesn't know if he's ready, but he's grateful to have someone with him.
"After this, you wanna get something to eat? I'm hungry," Bunta says, breaking the silence.
Akaya is grateful to shift to another topic. "Eh? You aren't full?"
"Running around and dressing up tired me out. The takoyaki was good, though, wasn't it?"
"Mm," Akaya says, uncomfortable with the memory. Bunta is referring to the takoyaki they tried to use to lure him out of the bathroom. "Though didn't the flavor clash with the cotton candy we ate before that? And with the candied apples after?"
"It was fine. And those were free samples, anyway."
Akaya scowls, "You're awfully popular, aren't you, senpai? Girls from other classes kept giving you free samples when we were walking by."
Bunta giggles, and he starts tracing patterns on Akaya's palm. "Don't be jealous at a time like this. You ate a lot too, didn't you?" Akaya thinks he can feel him drawing a star. "Ah, we should walk around the festival, too. Remind me what your class is doing again?"
Now it's a heart. "Random fair games… Ring toss and the like." He's been busy with preparation and practice for the play, so he doesn't really remember the specifics. "I brought random games and old toys as prizes."
"Hehe, you want me to win your stuff back?"
"Marui-senpai, you'll run us out of business," Akaya smiles. Knowing Bunta, he'd definitely be able to follow through on that, and the idea is so funny to him that he starts to laugh.
Bunta watches him intently. "There we go."
"Eh?" Akaya tilts his head, confused but still grinning. The look on Bunta's face hinted at a bit of a satisfied relief, but of what, Akaya had no idea.
It lasts only a split second before it's gone.
"It's nothing. Sure sounds like it'll be that way, huh, we can't have that," Bunta is nonchalant as he replies to his previous statement, then he breaks into a smirk. "Ooh, you wanna visit our haunted house?"
"U-Uh…" Oh no. "It was Niou-senpai who suggested that for your class, right?"
"Yeah," His senpai shrugs. "I don't really have a role, all I did was help set up the props and stuff. Niou's shift has him playing some shape-shifting ghost later, we should go see it."
That sounds like the last thing Akaya ever wants to see. "Pass."
"I'll let you hold on to me if you get scared," Bunta teases.
"Marui-senpai!"
"Just kidding, just kidding," Laughing, he ruffles Akaya's hair and ignores his protests. "Let's eat and play lots today after we're done here. It's our rare break from practice, after all."
When Akaya's managed to pry off Bunta's hand, now holding both of them to his chest and pouting, they both hear someone knock twice on the door.
"Bunta? Akaya?" it opens, and the sounds of the outside preparation fills the room, popping their little bubble. Yukimura-buchou appears, sticking his head through the opening. "You should go and get ready. It's almost time for curtains to open," his voice is loud, making sure he's heard over the commotion. Akaya sighs, taking more time than necessary to let go of Bunta's hands, fingers lingering on his palm until the very last possible second.
"Showtime. I'll see you later," Bunta grins, hand reaching up to almost cup Akaya's cheek with a ghost of a touch, in lieu of the usual, affectionate pinch. He can't get foundation on his hands, after all – and Niou would kill him if he ruins his masterpiece. "Good luck out there, little Cinderella."
Despite the reminder of the humiliating role he has to play, the sinking feeling in the pit of Akaya's stomach dissipates, replaced by a familiar pang in his chest and the overwhelming urge to kiss his senpai right here, both dressed in their costumes.
How wonderful it is to have what he has with Bunta, to have his positive, carefree presence remain a steady monolith of reassurance, pushing him ever forward and ever higher.
But then, Bunta pulls back, and Akaya gets brought back down to Earth. With one last close-eyed smile, the redhead leaves to go outside, where Yagyuu-senpai is waiting for him to prepare for their joint entrance.
Right. Akaya takes a deep breath and remembers why he’s here. They have a show to run, and an audience to make laugh. He has an Echizen to prove wrong.
And he has an Ocean Festival date waiting for him after this is over.