Inspired by the play mentioned in chapters 62 and 118 from the original manga.
I got the lines from the scene between the Witch's Servant and the Prince from makyun's translation on their tumblr of a Root A draft.
Kaneki was quiet. Quieter than usual.
Hide didn't blame him, considering what had just happened at the end of the school day.
As their teacher had announced the title of the play the class was to perform, she asked if anyone knew of the play. Kaneki's hand had been quickly raised in response, almost reflexively so from the excitement at recognising a story from the books he read.
He was the only student with his hand raised.
Hide could see the regret evident on Kaneki's face as the class unanimously agreed that since Kaneki already knew the play, he should be the one assigned to play the lead role. Kaneki had tried to turn it down, but his barely audible protests were drowned out by the others insisting for him to take the role, as well as the teacher pushing forward to assign the rest of the roles before the school day ended. Hide was among those suggested for one of the remaining roles, which he accepted. At least he and Kaneki would be involved in the performance together.
Kaneki's concern over the situation was still clear when he and Hide were walking home together. His eyes were directed to the ground, and despite the silence, it was as if Hide could hear all the thoughts that were running through Kaneki's mind.
"Hey, Kaneki?" Hide said to break the silence.
Kaneki raised his head from where he had been looking towards the ground.
"Don't feel too down!" Hide encouraged. "You get to act out one of the stories you know and love better than anyone in our entire class!" Hide gave Kaneki a smile.
"I… I get that but…" Kaneki bit his lip. "This isn't something I would choose to do, but everyone was so insistent that I couldn't say no…"
Of course now of all times had to be when the class wanted Kaneki to represent them for something. Hide doubted it was out of genuine encouragement or belief in Kaneki. The rest of the class likely wanted to avoid having to take on the main role in a serious play, so they'd pinned it on Kaneki the second he became a candidate.
Hide may not have been able to get Kaneki removed from the situation entirely, but he could always try the next option and attempt making it more bearable.
"What if we rehearsed together?" Hide suggested. "We could get a head-start and practise getting comfortable with our roles before we start to rehearse with the rest of the class."
Kaneki thought this over. "Hmmm, maybe that would be ok to start with…" he said. It looked like the frown on Kaneki's face was about to leave, but then Kaneki's face fell again. "Where… where do we do that…?"
Hide could hear the underlying message in Kaneki's words. Kaneki's house, as usual, was not going to be an option.
"What about our regular spot?" Hide asked. "We could go there and rehearse, just the two of us, so you won't have to worry."
Hide made his way over to his and Kaneki's regular spot in the park. Kaneki had insisted that they practise in the early morning, while the park was still relatively empty. It didn't really matter what time they rehearsed, since their spot was pretty isolated from the rest of the park anyway, but Hide didn't mind going along with whatever Kaneki found easier.
When Hide arrived, Kaneki was already there despite it having been Hide's intention to get there first. Kaneki had cleared a space on the grass, having removed the loose sticks and leaves and put them elsewhere, and was walking around as if to make sure the space was an appropriate size to rehearse with as a small, makeshift stage.
"How long have you been here for?" Hide asked as he approached Kaneki.
Kaneki jumped at the sound of Hide's voice, evidently not having expected him to arrive just yet, nor having heard the footsteps of his arrival. "Oh," he said. "Not too long. I just thought I should get started and make sure we had a spot good enough to rehearse on when you arrived…"
Hide placed his bag on the ground off to the side from the makeshift rehearsal space, pulling out his script.
"Kaneki, you haven't got your script with you?" Hide questioned when he saw that Kaneki's hands were empty.
"I shouldn't need it," Kaneki stated, to Hide's surprise. "I already knew most of these lines off by heart anyway. I just needed to memorise the rest last night and make sure they were right."
As much as Kaneki would disagree about his fittingness for the role he had been assigned, Hide had to admire how seriously Kaneki was taking it.
"You might have to help me out with my lines then," Hide said with a laugh. "I still haven't memorised them all."
Kaneki gave a slight smile, before looking off to the side and awkwardly crossing his arms.
"So…" Kaneki started. "Where…what do we do first…?"
Hide turned to look over at their rehearsal space. How were they supposed to begin rehearsing? Hide didn't know enough of the story or his character to suddenly begin acting it out in front of Kaneki. But while Kaneki definitely had the understanding that Hide lacked, it was guaranteed that he would be less confident than Hide about acting it out in front of another person.
"Why don't we practice the scene where it's just our two characters?" Hide suggested, turning back to Kaneki. "That way we're both learning and we can help each other, instead of one of us watching the other."
Kaneki pondered this and nodded.
Hide stepped forward and flicked through the script until he got to the page. "Um… Maybe we could sit and read through it together first?" Hide figured he couldn't begin to practice the acting before he actually understood what he was playing in the first place.
He sat himself down on the grass in the middle of the designated performance space Kaneki had set aside, Kaneki following after him to sit across from Hide.
"You're playing the Witch's Servant aren't you, Hide?" Kaneki asked.
"Yeah," said Hide. He paused as he looked down at his script, before he looked back up and spoke again. "Kaneki, could you uhhh… maybe help me out with this?"
Kaneki scooted over on the ground so that he was sitting beside Hide. "With what?"
"Well…" Hide flicked through the pages of the script, at a loss. "How am I supposed to play this part? What is actually going on in this scene?"
Kaneki frowned. "Hide, how much of the script did you read?"
Hide didn't answer. In hindsight, maybe he should have read through the entire script instead of just the scenes that featured his character.
Kaneki sighed. "It would make much more sense if you had read the whole thing." Kaneki adjusted his cross-legged position on the ground beside Hide to face him more directly.
"Is the Witch's Servant supposed to be good, or bad?" Hide questioned. "That's what I don't get."
Kaneki shook his head. "There isn't really any entirely good or bad in this story," he explained. "It's a little more complicated than that…"
Hide grinned when he saw Kaneki close his eyes, definitely about to ramble with his knowledge of the story. It didn't happen very often, but Hide did appreciate moments when Kaneki happened to be doing more of the talking.
"The Witch's Servant has wronged the Prince, definitely, but not in the same way as the Witch," Kaneki began. "The Witch hurt the Prince for her own selfish reasons, but the Witch's Servant was doing what he thought was best for the Prince."
Hide wondered just how many times Kaneki had read both the script and original story.
"This scene here is about forgiveness. Both the Witch's Servant and the Prince really want to reconnect, but both of them have reasons to hesitate. The Witch's Servant is ashamed of his actions, because even though he was tricked by the Witch and had good intentions, he still hurt and betrayed the Prince."
Hide was still smiling to himself as Kaneki kept talking. It was almost as if Kaneki had prepared this explanation.
"The Prince is scared of having his friend back and trusting him again, even though he so badly wants to hold on to his old friend. He fears being betrayed again, and is terrified that one day his friend is going to leave once more, because the Prince was so lonely without him…"
Kaneki seemed to have forgotten he was explaining the story to Hide for a moment, before he coughed and continued.
"So to answer your question," Kaneki said, going back to the reason for his explanation in the first place once he realised he had probably given a longer answer than necessary. "The Witch's Servant had technically done the wrong thing, but he deeply cares for the Prince and wants to do everything he can to earn the Prince's forgiveness and remain by his side."
"Hmmmm," Hide thought about Kaneki's answer. "So for this scene we have together," Hide held up the script. "The Witch's Servant is apologising and going back to the Prince's side, and the Prince is forgiving him, right?"
Kaneki didn't look entirely impressed. "Well, that's a simplified way of putting it…"
"I can do that!" Hide said. "Shall we start?"
Hide's lines started the scene, so he began to read first. Kaneki didn't look at the script to follow along while Hide read. Instead, his eyes were focused on the space he had cleared in the grass, as if he were picturing the scene playing out in front of him.
Hide wondered whether Kaneki was even going to remember to start saying his lines of the scene, but found he didn't need to prompt him. Kaneki turned back to Hide when it was his turn, speaking his line with confidence. It turned out Kaneki wasn't exaggerating when he had said he knew his lines. In fact, while Hide was still in the process of learning what his lines were, Kaneki was already rehearsing the way in which he was saying his lines, with a clear idea of what his character was thinking and feeling.
Sure it was unkind of the teacher and the class to peer pressure Kaneki into taking on this role, but there definitely wasn't anyone else in the class that would be fitting for it in the same way as Kaneki.
"Kaneki…" Hide said once Kaneki had finished the last line of the scene. "You're really good!"
Kaneki looked at Hide, eyes wide. "Really? I was just saying the lines like I had heard them in my head when I read the book…"
"Really!" Hide insisted. "You're a good actor, Kaneki!"
Kaneki smiled, looking actually reassured for the first time since being assigned his role.
"Let's get up and try moving now!" Hide stood up from his spot on the ground, brushing the grass from his clothing.
Hide looked at the designated performance space Kaneki had so carefully set up earlier.
"Hey, Kaneki," he said. "Where do you think I should go?"
If there was anyone who knew how the blocking of the scene should go, it would definitely be Kaneki. He had probably visualised how it should play out about fifty times by now.
Kaneki hesitated momentarily before he stood up.
"You tell me what to do, Kaneki," Hide insisted. "You know this better than me."
Kaneki nodded. He then reached out and grabbed Hide's hand, pulling him to the side of the makeshift stage. "Start here," he instructed.
Kaneki made his way over to a fixed point in the performance space. "Don't come on right away. You should wait a little bit when I stand here before you walk on and start your first line."
Hide nodded. He waited until Kaneki looked like he had started, pausing for a few more moments before walking onto their makeshift stage with his script in hand.
As Hide stood backstage in his costume, surrounded by his classmates as well as his teacher hurrying around him, he was thankful for the additional private rehearsals he had with Kaneki.
Hide watched Kaneki, who was peeking out from behind the curtain and gasping as he saw the hall being filled with students from other classes as well as the families of his classmates coming to watch the play.
"Hide… there are so many people!"
Hide poked his head around the curtain to get a glimpse for himself. Kaneki was right, there was definitely a bigger turnout to the play than expected.
From beside him, Hide could hear Kaneki's shaky breathing.
"Hide," Kaneki squeaked. "I don't know if I can do this…"
Hide stopped looking out at the audience and moved away from the curtain, pulling Kaneki away with him. Once Hide felt they were far enough backstage, he stopped and held Kaneki by the shoulders.
"Kaneki," Hide said, looking directly into Kaneki's eyes. "Don't think about all those people."
"You can say that Hide, but-"
Hide pulled Kaneki into a hug.
"The people out there don't exist in this story of the Prince, Kaneki," Hide spoke quietly into Kaneki's ear. "Think only of what the Prince is thinking."
Kaneki's arms wrapped around Hide to return the hug. They held their embrace as Kaneki closed his eyes and took deep breaths.
Kaneki's breathing was just about to stabilise when they were approached by their teacher. She beckoned Kaneki to be ready by the curtain, which abruptly ended their hug. Hide walked Kaneki to the side of the stage.
Kaneki swallowed as the lights went down in preparation for the show to start. The chatter of the audience settled until it was totally quiet.
Hide reached out for Kaneki's hand in the darkness. Kaneki gripped his hand back, and Hide could feel a slight tremble still lingering from Kaneki's fingers. Hide lightly squeezed Kaneki's hand before it was time for Kaneki's cue to go to the stage to begin the play.
Once Kaneki was in position on the stage, Hide continued to watch from the side as the lights came on.
Any expression of nervousness that Kaneki had been displaying had vanished from his face by the time the lights hit him. He spoke his first line in a clear voice, with conviction in what the Prince was saying. Kaneki had flipped the switch and was acting as if he were the character himself. Blocking out the watchful eyes of the adults in the audience, he wore the mask of the Prince. From the audience's perspective, the mask was all they could see, as any trace of the small, nervous boy underneath had been hidden from their eyes.
Hide had been by Kaneki's side throughout all their rehearsing, and yet he was still surprised by Kaneki's performance. Perhaps it was the adrenaline of performing the real thing in front of a much larger audience, but Kaneki's performance was even stronger now than it had been in rehearsal.
It seemed Kaneki was more adept at putting on a mask than Hide had even realised.
The play as a whole continued surprisingly even better than expected. There were very few mistakes, with almost every student remembering their lines perfectly, and Hide felt that he was even performing well in his own scenes.
It was only near the very end of the play that Hide felt particularly nervous.
Hide was standing just offstage, preparing for his next scene, when a classmate appeared beside him, holding out a flame prop to Hide that he was to carry onstage. It was the flame of his and Kaneki's scene. Hide took a deep breath before he took the flame prop off his classmate.
Kaneki was in position for the next scene before the lights rose. The lighting of this scene was softer, a dim orange instead of bright yellow. Kaneki was standing with his expression ready, sombre and longing. It appeared that playing the main character in this play had not yet tired Kaneki out yet, and Hide admired how he was still going strong in his performance.
He kept in mind Kaneki's advice from their rehearsals of already being in-character before walking on the stage, and made sure his expression was apologetic before he even stepped on.
He walked on slowly. This was the scene he and Kaneki had practiced together the most; Hide was long past having any reason to be nervous. Hide blocked out the audience, just as he had told Kaneki to do so from the beginning. This was only about the Prince and the Witch's Servant right now. No-one else mattered.
Kaneki turned to face Hide upon Hide's entrance. Kaneki kept his eyes focused on Hide, but his stance became guarded as Hide bowed his head.
Hide stepped forward, keeping his head bowed. "Oh, Prince!" he exclaimed.
Keeping hold of the prop flare above his head, Hide dropped to his knees a distance away from Kaneki. "Prince!" he cried again. "May you forgive me, for I have been tricked by the unsightly Witch!"
Hide kept his eyes on the floor, remembering what Kaneki had coached him to do during rehearsal. Display the utmost remorse for his actions, looking to the ground as if ashamed to look at the Prince in that moment.
Hide paused in between his lines, giving Kaneki the time he knew he needed to slowly come closer to Hide.
"Oh, Prince!" he continued after he saw Kaneki's shadow having moved close enough to him on the stage. "Prince! May you please, please forgive me?"
In that line, in that moment, Hide looked up to meet Kaneki's eyes.
Hide almost shivered when he saw the look in Kaneki's gaze looking down at him. Kaneki had well and truly gotten into character, and Hide felt exposed under the judging gaze of Kaneki. They had rehearsed this scene plenty of times together before, but perhaps the combination of the large audience in addition to Kaneki being deeper in character than he had ever been before was what was making Hide feel more pressure.
Kaneki held the look with Hide, pausing until he had felt the moment was held long enough before he continued with the scene.
"My friend…" Kaneki began. He spoke slowly, emphasising the gravity in his words.
Hide held his breath.
"Do you swear never to betray me again?"
Hide sighed, half from his acting of his character's relief, and half from the release of tension he had felt himself feeling within the scene.
"I swear!" Hide responded, standing up from his position on the ground.
"Will you swear to leave that unsightly Witch's side and fight alongside me?"
"I swear!" Hide repeated.
Kaneki reached out to take the flame prop from Hide's hand, lifting it above the both of them.
"This is the fire of hope, and the fire for the future!" Kaneki declared.
Kaneki held out his free hand to Hide.
"My friend," Kaneki held a look with Hide again, his gaze softer now. "I forgive you."
Hide reached out to take Kaneki's outstretched hand in his own.
"Let us think not of how this flame will die out," Kaneki continued, bringing the flame prop down from above his head. "But instead, think of how it lasts, burning and alive."
Kaneki held the flame in front of him, which was Hide's cue to reach out with his other hand and jointly hold onto the prop with Kaneki.
They stayed in that position, maintaining their eye contact with each other, until the lights dimmed. As they walked offstage together, they continued to hold onto the flame between them.