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Mizuki loved Rui.
He was not only their one friend who made solitude seem like a bearable experience, but he was also the first person to truly accept them for who they were back when no one else did. He would always be someone who had a special place in Mizuki’s heart even if one day they were to part ways, because the lonely bond which tied them together was special.
But at times like these Mizuki really wished they could strangle him.
“Please, Mizuki!”
“Rui…” they sighed as they pinched the bridge of their nose, incredulously trying to process the request their friend suddenly dropped on them. “How am I supposed to randomly find someone to agree to perform with me, me of all people, in a play so out of the blue?”
Mizuki would have almost felt pity for the clearly guilty smile on Rui’s face, if it weren’t for the fact that the ‘excited director’ glint in his eyes way overpowered it. “You know I wouldn’t ask you if I had another alternative. But Tsukasa-kun is gone with his family on a trip, and Nene and Emu-kun have to perform in another play that day.”
“Okay…why me?” He could have just as easily gone to An and ask for her help. She owed him for that one time he helped in the Kamikou Sports Festival either way.
“Fufu~, glad you asked.” and just like that, Mizuki knew they had no way out of this. “First off, you’re really athletic. I need someone who could handle a heavy sword-”
Heavy? Was he using a real sword???
“-and who could carry someone bridal style while not being out of breath as they spoke their lines.”
“Wait wait wait, I have to carry someone?”
But it was no use, he was already too far gone. “Second off, I need someone who is charismatic enough to make a cocky character feel lovable, which makes you the perfect fit for this-”
If they received that comment from anyone else but Rui, they would have taken it as anything but a compliment. Considering who it came from though, Mizuki tried their best to take it as a good thing.
“And, most importantly” suddenly Rui went quiet as he placed a tentative hand under his chin. His eyes were insistent as he switched his gaze from Mizuki, to the costume they were supposed to wear, and to the floor as he got lost in thought. “Well…let’s just say that depending on your co-star, you’d fit the ‘knight in shining armor’ image better than you would expect.”
“Huh? How???” Mizuki was beyond confused. They were stuck between kind of understanding Rui’s reasoning, and still wondering why he couldn’t have chosen someone else more suited for the role.
“Don’t dwell on it too much.” they had to wonder if this was how everyone around them felt whenever they were the one to tease them. “So, what do you say?”
They let out a long, exasperated sigh more fitting of Ena than themself, before replying. “Fine, I’ll help you. But that still doesn’t answer my question-”
“Great!” clasping his hands together and interrupting Mizuki, Rui wore the biggest grin as he approached his friend. “Then mind if I request Ena-kun to be your co-star?”
Huh?
“Sorry, I don’t think I heard you well, can you repeat that?”
The smile never left his face as he reached a hand around Mizuki, grabbing a crown prop left at the edge of the stage and twirling it around his finger. “Your co-star, the princess, I want it to be Ena-kun.”
“Rui…” they whined, feeling warmth creeping up their neck at the prospect. “You can’t just drop this on me at the last minute.”
“I had to make sure you would accept my offer first.” he shrugged nonchalantly, giving no regards to the inner turmoil this information just gave his friend.
“But why Ena?”
The moment that excited glint returned to his eyes, Mizuki knew they weren’t about to get an actual answer. “Call it director’s intuition.”
“I hate your director’s intuition.” they groaned, trying to figure out how exactly they could convince Ena into something like this. It would have been easier asking a complete stranger than her.
“I’m looking forward to working with the two of you.” was the last thing Rui said as he patted Mizuki’s shoulder and exited the school auditorium, leaving Mizuki all alone.
Yeah, they really wished they could strangle him.
------------------
They couldn’t concentrate.
Two hours into their Niigo meeting and Mizuki couldn’t even start on the beginning part of their MV. All they could think about was the impossible task in front of them. They knew they were being uncharacteristically quiet and the other 3 girls would most likely notice it, but they were too busy trying to come up with a convoluted plan to care.
Should they try to bribe Ena into it? But with what. Pancakes or cheesecake? No, that wouldn’t work for a request as big as this one.
Should they try to blackmail her? They could reach out to Akito and ask him about any embarrassing childhood memories, Mizuki had no doubt about the fact that he would share them. But no, even if it ended up working, after the play was over Ena would probably still be mad with them.
Sweet talk their way into it? Maybe praise her outfits and selfies for a change instead of teasing her about how much she edited them? No, it would be too obvious that they wanted something from her. Her art maybe? No, no, praising her art was always a genuine thing from them so they didn’t want to use that.
“Helloooo? World to Mizuki?”
Before they could go down another spiral, Ena’s voice broke them out of their thoughts.
“Uh, yeah?”
“...K and Yuki just told you good night?”
Wait what?
Finally turning their focus on the Nightcord tab, they noticed that the only two people left in the call were themself and Ena. Did they really spend the entire meeting getting lost in their own plans?
“What’s up with you? You’ve been quiet the entire time, it was actually kind of unsettling.”
“Ah…haha…” there was an underlying hint of worry in Ena’s voice, and Mizuki suddenly felt guilty. This was starting to get ridiculous. What if they just tried asking her instead of making some kind of convoluted plan? That could work…right? “About that…” Well, this was it. “Enanan, I need your help with something.”
“My help?”
“Yeah. But I want you to hear me out first! Promise not to get angry before I finish explaining everything?”
“No.”
Yeah, that was about what they expected. “Alright, fair enough, I’ll just get on with it then. I need you to perform with me in one of Rui’s shows.”
The silence which suddenly engulfed the call went on for long enough that Mizuki had to check Nightcord again to make sure Ena didn’t just leave the call. But no, her icon was still there.
“En-”
“No.”
Yeah that was pretty much what they expected again. “Enanan, please~.” they tried their hardest to muster their best pleading voice. “Rui had no one to ask but us. It’s just a small play for a group of kindergarten kids and we still have a week left to rehearse for it.”
They smiled triumphantly as they heard Ena sigh in defeat on the other side of the call. “What’s it about?”
“I haven’t read the script yet, but from what he told me, it’s a love story between a princess soon to be stuck in an arranged marriage who falls in love with her knight. I play the knight while you…um…” their voice trailed off as realization suddenly hit them. What the hell was Rui thinking making them perform such an embarrassing play? “Well…Rui wants you to play the princess…”
“Huh?!” Mizuki winced as the way Ena’s hands slammed against her desk resonated loudly in their headphones. “Why does he want to perform a love story for a group of kindergarteners?! Wouldn’t they be more excited if you went off and killed a dragon or something? And why am I the princess?”
“I don’t know!” Mizuki whined as they let their head fall on top of their desk. “No matter how much I asked him, he just told me it was “director’s intuition” and refused to elaborate any further.”
“And isn’t one week a really short time left to rehearse?”
“I…guess? I have no idea, but it’s just a play for a group of kids, how hard could it be?”
Ena’s exasperated sigh was never a good sign, especially when Mizuki was so close to convincing her too.
“Please, Enanan! Pretty pretty please? I will forever be in your debt, just help me out this one time!” thinking back on what the play was about, Mizuki couldn’t tell if they would have felt more at ease performing the romantic scenes with a complete stranger than with Ena, but it didn’t matter. Rui asked for her, so they would bring her. “Besides, when you think about it, the role of a spoiled princess fits you, doesn’t it?”
“I’m starting to think you don’t really want my help after all.”
“Wait wait, that was a joke! Just a joke!”
They spent the next three minutes in complete silence as Ena was, no doubt, weighing her options. What would they do if she still turned them down? What could they do? This whole situation was already so far out of their depth that they wondered why they couldn’t just turn down their friend in the first place.
Argh, Rui, you owe me so much for this.
Luckily for Mizuki, they didn’t have to feel tormented for much longer as Ena finally decided to take pity on them.
“Fine, I’ll help you.” her voice sounded so defeated and apprehensive that they just knew she dreaded it just as much as they did.
“Yay, you’re the best Enanan!”
“Pft, right. When are the rehearsals?”
“Hehe, a few hours before your classes start, so you don’t have any excuse to skip them anymore.” they should have probably mentioned that detail to Ena earlier, but if Rui got to keep things from them until they accepted his request, so could they.
The low thump Mizuki heard as Ena let her own head fall on her desk was indicative enough of how happy she was with the new information. “Great.”
It’s going to be a long week.
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Mizuki was right. It was, indeed, a long week, but not for the reasons they expected.
The first few rehearsals went surprisingly smoothly, Rui taking it easy on them as they familiarized themselves with the script. The sword which Mizuki was supposed to handle turned out to be, in fact, just a prop which was slightly adjusted to have the same weight as a real sword for realism purposes.
While the action scenes were few and far in between, Mizuki was starting to understand why Rui chose them, specifically for this role, especially with the weight of the prop. To his delight they managed to get through all of them with relative ease, meaning he didn’t have to cut anything away from the final production.
What no one expected to sail as smoothly, however, was the script reading. Mizuki expected for it to be awkward, playing the roles of secret lovers with Ena, having to throw flirty line after flirty line at each other.
They were wrong.
Even with the lines being so incredibly cheesy, fitting for a play dedicated to kindergarteners, whenever the time came for them to recite one, it all just felt natural. The words slipped past their lips like they knew them by heart, like they spoke them to each other every day and it would have been weirder if they didn’t
An odd sense of trepidation overcame Mizuki the more they rehearsed the script. It was subtle, but after each rehearsal the air between them and Ena shifted slightly. More and more, bit by bit, and neither one of them knew where it was about to get at.
“Aaaand, stop. Good job you two, the scenes are starting to feel more and more polished up with each rehearsal.”
“I won’t lie,” Ena started as she passed Mizuki a bottle of water. “this wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I expected it to be.”
“Fufu~, I’m glad to hear you say that, Ena-kun.” they had two more days left of rehearsal. Unless something ridiculously catastrophic were to happen all of a sudden, Mizuki would have considered all their hard work so far a success. Not that they had any prior experience to compare it to, but Rui’s satisfied grin felt like a good sign.
“I have to say though,” what wasn’t a good sign was that grin suddenly turning into a knowing smirk. “you and Mizuki exceeded all my expectations. For two people with no acting experience, you still succeeded in making your roles as lovers feel like your own.”
Mizuki was grateful for the fact that the bottle of water which they were just taking a sip out of was hiding their quickly reddening cheeks. Why did he have to put it that way?!
“Guess my director’s intuition was right.”
What Mizuki couldn’t see, however, was Ena’s face as she quickly turned around, pretending to gather up her script. They wondered what kind of face she must have been making for the corner of Rui’s lips to stretch his smirk even further.
“Well then, now that you both had a break, are you alright with rehearsing one more scene?”
Ena swiftly cleared her throat before she turned her head around in the direction of the auditorium’s clock. “I think I should have enough time for one more before classes start.”
“Perfect. Mizuki?”
They couldn’t really explain why, but the feeling of trepidation in their chest increased tenfold as Ena’s eyes met theirs. Whatever was growing between them these past few days seemed awfully close to bursting. Yet, against their better judgment they found themself nodding. “Sure. Let’s do one more.”
“Good, good. Although I do have one small change I want to implement.” Mizuki and Ena followed Rui’s footsteps as he made his way backstage, returning a few seconds later with two outfits in his hands. “I want you two to perform this scene in your costumes.”
“Eh? Why all of a sudden?”
Ena’s confusion wasn’t misplaced. The entire time they’ve been rehearsing they were wearing their P.E. clothes. Rui wanted to keep the costumes in pristine condition for the day of the play, so besides wearing them once to check if any adjustments needed to be made, they were kept backstage.
“Hmmm.” He pretended to be deep in thought, but the mischievous smile on his lips couldn’t fool Mizuki. He was planning something. “Well, let’s just say that this is a pretty important scene and I want to see how it plays out with your costumes on.”
Ena didn’t question it any further as she took her dress and made her way backstage to change. Mizuki on the other hand was stuck frowning in Rui’s direction, trying to figure out what he was thinking.
Their friend made no move to try and answer any of their confusion. Instead he just placed the costume in Mizuki’s arms and started pushing on their back. “Come now, just go and get yourself changed.”
They sighed as they rushed to get themself prepared. They were supposed to be the first one on stage with Ena entering after them, and they didn’t want to make her be late to her classes.
The scene they were playing was a simple one, but arguably one of the most important ones in the entire play. It was the scene where the knight put all their bravado to the forefront and asked the princess to give up everything and run away with them.
For as crucial of a scene as it was, they didn’t rehearse it anywhere near enough times due to the strain it put on Mizuki’s stamina. Part of them was worried to play it so close to the end of their practice session when a lot of their energy was already spent on previous scenes, but they knew Rui wouldn’t suggest something as long as he felt it was harmful. Grabbing their sword after they were fully dressed up, Mizuki made their way onto the stage while making a mental note to be extra careful so as to not get Ena hurt.
“Alright, Ena-kun is already dressed up as well, so feel free to start whenever you’re ready.” as soon as those words left his lips, Mizuki could see the way Rui’s entire demeanor changed into his usual hyper focused mode.
It was time for them to start.
The scene opened up with the knight spending their time in a secluded corner of the royal garden, practicing with their sword in the midst of the night away from their fellow knights. A place for them and them alone, a little secret that no one should have known about.
So it went without saying that the moment the rustling of leaves hit their ears, the knight’s body instinctually stiffened as they turned around, pointing the tip of their sword towards the intruder which somehow found their way into their secret place.
The way the scene was supposed to play out was the knight coming face to face with the princess. They were supposed to sigh in relief, place their sword down, and tease the princess for wandering so far into the garden when she should be in her chambers.
Instead, Mizuki felt their breath hitch and every muscle in their body freeze as they came face to face with Ena. Ena in her costume, in the princess’ dress which they’ve never seen her wear before now. It was a simple garment, silk flowing down in rows of brown and white until it hit the ground while leaving the shoulders exposed. A few pearls adorned its edges, connecting it to a single piece of flower at their ends.
Suddenly Mizuki forgot all of their lines.
“Pointing a weapon in a royalty’s direction is a capital offense, I hope you know that.” Ena went ahead, continuing the scene even as her eyes questioningly searched Mizuki’s own.
Right. They had to snap out of it. They’ve rehearsed this scene in the past, they had no reason to fumble it now even if Ena did look incredibly ethereal in her costume.
“Well, then maybe you shouldn’t wander to such secluded places in the middle of the night, Your Majesty.”
Suddenly Mizuki’s throat felt dry as they leaned their weight on their sword with one hand, and grabbed the princess’- Ena’s - hand with the other. A simple bow, a simple kiss on the back of her hand which they’ve already done in past rehearsals. Yet something felt different this time.
The princess huffed in annoyance even as she made no move to pull her hand away. “This is my palace, I am free to wander wherever I want.”
“And I don’t doubt that.” replied the knight as they stood back tall, a knowing smile on their face. “But if you were truly free, you wouldn’t have to marry some noble you don’t even know now, would you?”
The relationship between the princess and the knight in this play was one of push and pull. When one pushed, the other responded. They were both two proud beings who wouldn’t let themself be outdone by anyone, including someone they had feelings for. Mizuki chose to ignore the way it all reminded them so much of the relationship they, themself, had with Ena.
“And since when was it your business who I may or may not marry?” even with their height difference, Ena didn’t fail to make the princess feel tall and proud as she stood face to face with the knight, a matching knowing smile on her face as well. “For just a royal guard you sure seem caught up in actual royal business.”
“Do you not want me to be?” it was a question which the knight, and everyone in the audience should have known the answer to by that point in the play. She did. She relished in the attention the knight was giving her, in the obvious jealousy on their face whenever her soon to be betrothed was mentioned, in the way she could forget about a future she didn’t want whenever they butted their head into her business.
“I-”
“Who’s there?!”
Before the princess could respond to the knight, the two of them heard the voice of a patrol guard threatening to find them.
This was it.
Mizuki felt extra anxious as they picked Ena up in a bridal position and started off running. The knight was supposed to suddenly grab the princess and get lost in the maze of the garden until the patrol guard gave up. They repeated the running scenes a few times in the past week, but it was never at a point where Mizuki’s stamina was at its lowest.
But they should be fine. If Rui didn’t think that they could pull it off, he wouldn’t have suggested rehearsing this scene in the first place. So they held tightly onto Ena’s waist with one hand, and her legs with the other, holding her as close as possible to secure her position.
“W-What are you doing?!”
Oh, having her so much closer to their chest made Mizuki feel, more than hear every line Ena delivered.
“Haha, sorry Your Majesty, but the moment you came into that corner of the garden, you gave the rest of your night to me, so I can’t exactly let us get caught.”
Good, Mizuki managed to say their line even without sounding out of breath. Luckily for them, they weren’t supposed to run for much longer either, so after a few more seconds of running through the props on the stage they stopped, setting Ena down.
“Ha…You’re insane, you know that?” in spite of her complaining, the princess’ eyes held a certain mirth which just fueled the knight’s desire.
“I know I am.” their bravado was at its peak as they stepped closer than necessary to the princess. “So give up everything and run away with me.”
“Eh?”
They were getting close to the end of the scene which also marked the end of the play. The princess accepting the knight’s proposal, them running away together and living happily ever after.
“Run away with you…That’s a big request from someone who never stays in one place to call home.”
And something shifted very quickly because that? That was not in the script.
“You’re asking me to give up everything for you and I would. I would in a heartbeat.” suddenly it didn’t feel like they were a princess and her knight. Suddenly they were Mizuki and Ena up on the Kamiyama rooftop once again. “I just want the truth from you.” Ena blinked once, then twice, and on the third time she finally seemed to realize that they were, in fact, in a play which went off the rails. “Um…the truth about what we would do after we run away.”
But Mizuki was enraptured. “The truth…I’m afraid I can’t give it to you. Not yet.” whether it was their instinct somewhat aware in the back of their head that they were supposed to follow a role, or something else they were too afraid to search for, they didn’t know. They just knew that it felt right to them, holding the sword to give them some support as they knelt, keeping their head down.”Because I never had a place to truly call home until I met you, and all I can do is ask for it even more.”
What were they even doing? The play was long supposed to be over. But as Ena’s hand found its way on their cheek, slowly lifting their head up to meet her eyes, Mizuki found themself not caring anymore.
“And I want to give it to you. All of it. But how do I know this is what your heart truly desires?”
Ah. Ena had her own insecurities when it came to them. Does she feel like she went too far? Like Mizuki doesn’t want her to worry about them? They couldn’t have that, not when even through all the pain they felt back then, Ena telling them she would stay by their side forever if she had to was one of the happiest moments in their life.
“If my words are not enough, how can I prove it to you?”
And everything seemed to stop the moment Ena’s eyes fell on their lips. The play had no kiss. At the time of receiving the script Mizuki felt relieved when they found out about it. The knight was supposed to run with the princess into the sunset, and that’s where it all ended. But the fact of the matter was that, as Ena’s face grew closer and closer, Mizuki realized they were both leaning in.
It would have been so easy to pull away, but neither one of them did. In the back of their head Mizuki’s consciousness kept screaming at them that this was a terrible idea, but they couldn’t listen to it even if they tried. Just a bit more. Just a little closer and them and Ena would ki-
They both jumped away, startled at the sudden blaring ring of a bell.
“Ah…m-my classes are about to start. S-Sorry, I’ll see you two later.”
And just like that, Ena rushed backstage and changed in her uniform at record speed before running out the door into the school, leaving Mizuki on the ground wondering what the hell just happened.
“Hmm, interesting. I might make some changes to the script.”
Rui’s voice was what finally brought them back to reality. They stood on shaky legs, making their way towards their friend and gripping his shoulder as hard as they could.
“Mizuki?”
“You-I’m-What???”
They would have found the way Rui burst out into laughter offending, if it weren’t for their brain barely functioning. “Yes. You’re welcome.”
“Rui…” they whined as they hid their face in their palms. “I don’t know if I should kick you or buy you lunch for a month.”
Almost as if on cue, Mizuki’s phone rang from the seat they left it on.
“Fufu~. How about you check the message you just received and you can tell me after?”
Scrambling to unlock it the moment they read Ena’s name on their lock screen, Mizuki’s mouth felt dry as they read the messages.
Enanan
can we please talk after school?
it’s nothing bad i promise
or at least i hope it isn’t
They didn’t even try to hide their grin as they held their phone close to their chest.
“Lunch for a month it is.”