An Unheard Voice - Chapter 20: Chapter 20

"Okay guys! Our play has been extended for too long, so it's 2 weeks on friday night! Since that is the last week of school," Kamishiro says, everyone panics immediately. "Wait-- No need to be afraid! We already have most of our parts done, today is just the role switching so just a heads up, if you don't have the same role it's not a personal thing, it's just what's best for our play. We're representing the teacher here!" He shouts, and Mr. Kaito dozes off.
"First," He reads off of his list and Otori gives out new scripts, changing with their old ones. Some are happy about it, and some are disappointed. It went for about 2 minutes until mine was.. changed?? I don't even have a role.. "And last but not least, Emu, you are now the minion, and Toya is our new princess!! Is the term princess right or is it a prince..?"
We all stay silent. I'M WHAT?!!?
I turn my head to Otori, who shrugs with an evil grin. Then makes a kissing face, bumping her hands together and pointing at us. OTORI, YOU--!! I look at Akito, who is too stunned to speak. Oh my god.
"I think you all have your new lines memorized, right? No matter, you have plenty of time to stay after school."
"After hearing it a thousand times, sure." Kusanagi scoffs.
We're totally going to rehearse this at least until we drop dead today knowing Kamishiro.
"Wow, that's the fastest we've done.. okay in our first practice!" Kamishiro claps, as everyone is laying on the floor, exhausted. I literally had to put my face close to Akito 5 times and had to look away or I'd just pass out. I can't do this anymore. He died for like 15 minutes every time.
"Wakey-wakey!" An pokes him, who mutters something. I think it's gibberish, though.
"Good job, everyone! Have a great day~!" They main 4 wave, they're staying after to watch the recordings. It's part of the practice, I would not go in front of one for 20 minutes if Akito wasn't with me.
"That was tiring, wasn't it?" Akito puts his arm around me, and I nod.
"Hey, you two! Wanna stay over at my place? We can practice lines there, my dad said he doesn't mind!!" An suggests, and we both look at each other.
"Sure." He agrees. Why do I have a bad feeling about this..?
Akito and I have locked ourselves in the bathroom. She tried to squish our heads together during our act. I should have listened to my gut.
"Don't go in there just so you can do very bad things!!" An bangs the door, and I sigh.
"An, seriously, leave your friends alone.." Ken chuckles, moving her away from the door. I crack it open to see her in his arms laughing. Aw. It's nice to see her get along with her father. At least having a better dad than I do.
"It's late. Go to bed, okay? I'll make breakfast so you don't have to wake up." He ruffles her hair, and she giggles.
"Okay! Let's go get your stuff ready!" An marches to the room, and Akito rolls his eyes.
"You and your father is really close, aren't you?" Akito says, and I nod. She stares at us, and grins.
"Well, yeah! I was more fond of my dad than my.. mom?" She tilts her head, and throws herself on her bed.
"Right.. her." Akito scoffs, getting my stuff ready even though I asked him not to... I look around, confused. "We haven't told Toya about the story?" He asks, and An thinks. She shakes her head, making me even more puzzled.
"Toya, I'm actually really jealous of you." She scoffs, and I raise an eyebrow. What is there to be jealous of? "You and your mom get along. She's sweet. And she's not a total bi--" Akito scowls, shutting her up. ".. Loser!"
.. what? She laughs, but that's probably the laugh she uses to cover up her fear. She doesn't look so well right now.
"Toya, um.. I think you may never meet my mother because she's like- in rehab I don't know." REHAB!?? "No, no it's fine! I heard she's getting better but I still don't think of her as family. Also I.. I might never actually- forgive.. Mizuki." Her voice begins shaking, and that catches Akito's attention.
"Huh?" He asks, like he didn't know this. Does he?
"I'll save that for another day. All you should know is that you will never actually meet her." She stares at us while grinning. Akito and I glance at each other. I'm concerned.. "I'm super tired! Let's go to-" she yawns, then passed out immediately.
".. Look, Toya just.. keep in mind that her mom was super strict and furious about her cutting her hair. She just did it randomly the day after summer break in middle school. She hasn't even told me why," He scoffs, and I put a blanket over An.
"Can I know more about this?" Toya, stop pushing it--!!! I can't!!! Why did you tell me when you know I tend to get too curious...
"Sure. But.. come here, I'm tired." He pats next to him, and I scoot closer to him. He puts my head on his shoulder, and I blush. What..?
"She told me that her mom was- actually Toya, look. An doesn't.. actually have a mom. Her biological mom is dead. That's her step mom." He says, and my heart drops. An never told anyone..?
"And then Ken married someone while she was in middle school, who.. had 2 children. Alcohol abuse I think was the case. But they're divorced now. I don't really want to ask her about her past if she's uncomfortable sharing, but.. apparently Ken was the only one at the time who accepted An. She's all Ken has. So that's probably why they're so close, isn't it?" He chuckles, and I softly smile. Ken is really nice.. and Akito is concerned about her even if he doesn't show it.
"'night." He turns off the lamp while putting a blanket over us, but I can't sleep so easily. Now they have me curious... Wait, why are we sleeping so close-?!?!
Every day I feel like I'm getting tired and tired. I go to bed and wake up on time, getting 8 hours of sleep?! We've practiced so much to the point some people passed out. I think we shouldn't be doing this nonstop..
"Our time is precious, so I'll get right to the point. We will perform in 6 days, but since something.. happened with our sewing machine," Kamishiro glared at Akiyama, who hid behind Ena.
"I swear, it caught on fire. Really!"
He rolled his eyes. That's.. hard to believe.
"We now finally have our costumes. It was on short notice that we informed Mizuki here that we would.. have a prince being our princess..." He sighed, and I slumped in my seat. This is so embarrassing.
"But don't worry, Mizuki already measured you all, remember?" When have they not.. "When I call your name, please come up to get your costume. And after, go with Shinonome-san who was kind enough to take time to do the make-up, too." He says, as Ena hands him the list.
"Akito Shinonome," He says, as Akiyama hands him the outfit, and he just stares at it. "Go try them on in the locker room. Tell me if anything is wrong! And if it's fine, we'll practice as if nothing changed. Toya Aoyagi,"
Akiyama gives me a really.. nice outfit, actually. This is.. not funny. Come on, I have a communication disorder.. why am I getting one of the main roles..? I sob to myself, and An pats my back.
"PLEASELETMETAKEALOTOFPHOTOSOF-" Akiyama goes off, but Ena smacks their head. "I'm sorry. Please tell me if it's too tight or loose." They stay, giving An a costume.
.. Huh?
"Oh, and by the way, I made you this, too. There's heels that match with it because, well.. your role is a princess..? Plan B..?" Akiyama grins, giving me a dress. I'm sorry? An bursts out laughing, and my face turns red out of embarrassment with everyone whispering, but I have to try it anyway.. Akiyama spent time doing this...
Kamishiro just glances, and gives Akiyama a blank stare, blinking. ".. How about you try that on, first..? We can get a wig, and this would probably make the audience.. approve." Kamishiro chuckles, putting his pen to his chin.
"It's not like this new," Tenma sighs and pats my back. I'm in internal pain forever. Why are there accessories, too.? Akiyama planned this, didn't they.. Might as well..
I look down at the dress, and groan. Here goes nothing.
"Toya! Are you okay in th--" An bangs the door, but I open it and she immediately stops. This flower dress is.. super comfortable. Like, it's not even a flower pattern, there's like- fake flowers you attach. This is really creative. ".. Oh my god." An takes out her camera, and I jolt. I'm going back in the locker room.
"Wait, no!! Try on the flower crown, Mizuki said they forgot to give you it!" An smiles, and I give in. I put my head to her level, and she places it on me. "... You look like a girl with short hair." She says. I.. I do.? "NOT IN A BAD WAY!"
"What are you two doi-" Akito comes, and we both turn to him. He pauses, dropping the paper. Akit-!! I panic, growing embarrassed.
"Welp, his soul left his body. Come on, let's go show everybody!" She grabs my hand, taking me away. No- "Look! It fits perfectly, and he's pulling it off!" An presents me, and my face turns red. Everyone is staring and staying quiet- do I actually look bad.??
"WHERE'S MY CAMERA?!" Akiyama drops everything, rummaging around their bag. Ena shrieks, dumping her bag, grabbing her notebook. Is it too late to run..?
They told me to change into the other outfit now, just to see how it fits. Akito said he would help me put on the back string things and finally help with my zippers.
"How did you even zip this whole thing up..?" He scoffs, because the zipper is like all the way to my lower back. I shrug, and he begins zipping it down.
He looks handsome in his outfit... Wait, why am I even thinking about that-?!
"Ah- sorry," Akito apologies, accidentally poking me with the needle while removing the back accessories. Smile through the pain, Toya.
After he unties it, he continues to expose my back more. I'm starting to get embarrassed.
It's so silent that it's super loud and the zipping noise is so awkward.
"U-Um.." He starts to blush, turning away. "I-I think it's best if you.. take it from here.." he says, since it's.. mostly down. I nod rapidly, letting him sit and thanking him.
.. Why isn't he turning around. Why- He- I freeze. I turn around, with my face red. He tilts his head, confused.
"T.. Turn around," I whisper, and his face does the same, and he quickly turns around. Wait, I didn't say please- did I sound rude?!
"Sorry-!!" He apologizes, covering his eyes. I softly laugh, and begin changing into my other outfit.
After I'm done putting most of it on, he helps me put on the coat and attach the streamers or something onto my back. It kind of reminds me of a jellyfish in a way.
I stare at my outfit long enough to prefer this over a dress. I look at Akito, seeing if he likes it too.
"Wow," He says under his breath, and smiles. "You look.. amazing." He scratches his cheek, trying to fight his grin. My cheeks turn red, and I smile back at him.
"YOU TWO BETTER NOT BE MAKING OUT DURING REHEARSAL!!! TIME IS TICKING, CHOP CHOP!!" An bangs the door, and both of our faces light up.
We all exit the room, and everyone's faces light up seeing me. We have to take a vote tomorrow at lunch, with reasons to back them up. .. I just want to get this over with.
Who knows if my dad will come.. that's not happening. Even if that 1% chance happened, he'd see my crush and or me crossdressing. Which is worse?
"Akito!!" Momoi huffs with Azusawa, holding boxes. They run up to Akito and An, catching their breath. "We came to give you guys a snack and water, you said you were exhausted, right?"
They were.?
"So we got something for everyone, we had to rush to the store. Okay, we'll see you guys later! They gave us 5 minutes despite Emu being here for 5 hours," Momoi scoffs, watching Kohane give An a 'good luck kiss'. Akito chuckles, ruffling her hair.
"Thanks. Although we can't give you something for your birthday today due to rehearsal, we'll do something later." He flashes her a friendly smile, accepting it. Her face turns beet red, and a mix of shyness and anger is visibly painted on her face.
"I... I didn't do this for you specifically!! Stupid!! I don't even want yo-- ugh, we'll just discuss it next week-!!" She shouts, and rushes out. Azusawa says goodbye and apologizes for their interruption, chasing after.
"Do your best!!" She shouts, slamming the door. We all stay silent for a moment.
"Dude... Is that seriously how I act..?" Kusanagi's face is filled with shock as she slowly turns to Kamishiro. He shrugs, having no idea what she's talking about.
I just stand there. Like.. I can't even believe what just happened before my eyes. Is that actually real? Did that just.. happen?
"If you guys are exhausted right now, we'll take a 10 minute break. Be back here by 4:30 sharp. I will have your head if I see you skip." Kamishiro intimidatingly snaps his pen, and Tsukasa hands him another. Everyone shivers, but takes some of the supplies anyways.
Akito said he'd give some water to Mr. Kaito who usually forgets to drink and eat, so he'll be gone searching for him. An is visibly shocked, looking back at me and Akito, then hesitantly chases after him. Oh god, she's going to cause a scene.
I just sit on the stage, with my feet hanging off.
Why did he smile like that-? Does he just pat anyone's head? Yeah, probably! ... Maybe. I sigh, playing with the fake rose in my hands.
Maybe Airi would have been in this role if she wasn't sick. I.. Literally, she was an idol for crying out loud! I don't know what I did, all I did was turn into a statue.
I don't really want to let tears fall from my eyes, because I'd be crying over something stupid. I'm having three emotions at once; sadness, fear, and.. anger? Why am I angry? I'm overreacting. I can't stop overthinking something that just platonically happened.
I shouldn't be angry at Momoi, it's not her. I'm just jealous-- selfish even, curse you, Toya!! I clench the fake flower, scolding myself.
Tsukasa glances, and runs up to me.
"Hi, Toya! Here, have some water." He puts his hand on my back, and hands me the bottle. I put on a smile, and take it. "Toya.. I.. I have no idea what happened." He says, and I shrug.
"It is what it is, I guess." I roll my eyes slightly, erasing it once he's done reading. I'm kind of.. what is it, pissed? An says it whenever she's really angry. I'm assuming it's a swear word whenever Akito scowls at her. Pardon my language in case.
But it's not at Momoi. I'm.. frustrated at myself.
"No Toya, it's dumb. I swear if they're dating-!!" He clenches his fist in the air, and I laugh. We both know he couldn't fight Akito if he wanted to. "On a serious note though, how are you.. okay with this? Have you not asked what the relationship is between them?"
"He said that they were just friends." I flip the page once he says he's done reading.
He gets up, and rubs my head.
"Well, if he hurts you in any way, I'll take care of it. I know he means a lot to you, and I'm happy he does. Do your best today and with him." He grins, and that makes the edge of my mouth twitch up.
A little after, Saki is in front of me once I turn my head. I flinch, falling back. Oh my god-!! Saki-?! When did she?!
"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." She giggles, hoisting herself up the stage to sit with me. "Look, um.. you know how.. we all kind of said you should confess to Akito..?" She says, and I nod. I don't know where this is going.
"Yeah, about that.. after seeing what happened since I secretly followed them... You know how big brother said that- there's a time and place for everything and that you shouldn't just jump to it?" Saki asks seriously. I nod, confused.
"Well, in my opinion how I see it.. Akito should be really loyal to you if he's not going with Airi since she likes him. And it's kind of obvious," she laughs.
"Yeah, if you were given that choice it's like if you got asked to choose if you could see how you died or when you die!" Akiyama adds, with their mouth full. Akiyama.. "Like- you'd most likely ask to know how, right? That would just prevent you from doing that one thing, even if it's something you really like. Although, that fate wouldn't be changed either way." They say, finally swallowing their chip.
"And if you chose when, you'd just live in fear and paranoia. Like- You wouldn't want to be scared because you know what'll happen if he doesn't want to date you or when he does, right?"
.. That makes sense..?
"I know it's stupid, but listen- Li'l bro would never do anything to you. He loves you just as much as you love him, and he would punch me in the fact if I just hugged you right now." They scoffed, and Saki giggled.
After about 6 more minutes pass, everyone was sure to come here. Kamishiro hummed, putting away the sword prop. Okay, then.
Time for the real challenge to begin..