Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Bleach series in any way. All copyrights go to Tite Kubo. The only original character I do own is Fumiko Asuna.
Author's Note: Yay, here's another update of The Knight and his Princess. Special thanks goes to Ai Angel, Thrash Unreal, k a y - t h i, j cloud xD, monkeywinz, KnowledgeandImagination, becomeafan, Samantha, Neko-cheung, yoyogigi125, nomangaandanimeequalsdead, HyourinmaruIce, applestoapples, athfdrizzle, SMILES208, icyangel27, lil'sayuri-chan, serenity095, NeonCookies O.o, maili-chan. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! Without any further delay, here is Part I of The Play. Enjoy!
LEGEND
"Talking." "Thinking." (Japanese Word Translations)
The Knight and his Princess
Chapter Eight: The Play - Part I
After days of practicing and rehearsing, the day has finally arrived. Today is the cultural festival and class 2-1 is hours away from the start of their live performance. "Kyaa! He's so hot!" a group of female classmates squealed, awing over their class prodigy's changed clothes.
"You got that right!" Matsumoto agreed, standing next to him. "It definitely took me a long time to make this perfect outfit for him to wear."
"You call this perfect?" Hitsugaya asked, looking down at himself. "I don't look like a knight at all. As a matter of fact, I look like prince charming opposed to what I'm supposed to look like."
"Whatever, those two fairytale characters are practically the same."
He shot her a glare before letting out a defeated sigh. There is no use trying to go against her. Besides, there's not much time left until the performance on stage. So, he can't ask her to change the outfit now. "Guess who's finally in the house?" asked a familiar voice.
Heads turned their attention to the door to see Fumiko Asuna dressed in an elegant purple coloured princess outfit. Her long jet black hair is curled and left loose.
Her followers are the first ones to walk up to her. One of them said, "You look great, Fumiko-sama!"
"You're very stunning!"
However, the complement she wanted to hear is Hitsugaya's. After ignoring the girls, she walked up to the white haired teenager and asked, "How do I look Toshiro?"
He took a look at his girlfriend and replied, "You look wonderful."
With a burst of happiness, she threw her arms over his shoulders and embraced him. As Hitsugaya is suddenly overwhelmed by her actions, he heard her say, "Oh, you're so sweet! I love you so much, Toshiro!"
"Ehrm, yeah...same here."
With a smile on her face, Fumiko skipped away from her boyfriend and returned to her followers. "He said I look wonderful! You two feel the same way, right?"
"Ah yes," one of them replied.
"Most certainly," the other added.
Just as Asuna is about to reply back, they heard the sound of cooing. "Aww, you look so adorable in your costume Hinamori!"
She turned her head to see the raven haired girl dressed in her pink princess outfit. Her hair is only tied up in a semi-ponytail with a pink bow ribbon.
Noticing that she is getting more attention than she is, Fumiko frowned. "I don't see anything that makes her look prettier than me."
"Yeah, she's ugly," said one of her followers.
"Not pretty at all," the other added.
"Well Hitsugaya, don't you have anything to say to Hinamori?" Matsumoto asked, grinning at the white haired knight.
He shot her an icy glare before turning his attention to the peach girl. "You...you look very lovely in that costume," he said.
His words hold true for her. Toshiro really believed that Momo looked beautiful in her dress. She honestly looked more appealing to him than Fumiko is.
Upon hearing him say such a complement, Hinamori lowered her head to hide the fierce blush on her face. She timidly replied, "Thanks, you...look quite handsome yourself."
"Oi Hitsugaya, over here!" said one of his classmates.
"Please excuse me for a moment," he replied.
Momo just stood there and slowly nodded with agreement. As she watched him go away, she couldn't help, but feel a little sad inside. The feeling of acknowledgment only lasted for a short while. "Oh Hitsugaya-kun..."
Matsumoto suddenly slapped her back with her hand, causing the girl to jump. "Yup, it's all settled!"
"What's settled?"
"He definitely is attracted to you."
"That's impossible. I've told you before; why would he be interested in me when he already has Asuna?"
"Oh Hinamori, did you ever hear of the saying: there's more to it than meets the eye?" Rangiku asked. "Though he doesn't quite show it, he does care about you."
"Mou..."
Little did Momo know, Fumiko is no too far away and had witnessed the whole previous scene between her and her boyfriend. She bit deeply into her thumb nail that it broke. "That boyfriend stealer! This is the last straw! I'm going to make sure that you don't ever get your happy ending!"
"Alright class," Ukitake said while clapping his hands. "It's time to gather around."
Students of class 2-1 walked up to the long white haired teacher and listened attentively to what he has to say.
"There are only two hours left before our live performance starts. I just want to say that you've all done a great job making it this far. Now, it's up to you to blow the audience away with your acting."
"Yes teacher!" everyone exclaimed.
He smiled and nodded with agreement. "Alright then, you're all dismissed."
As students are getting back to their positions, Fumiko approached and tapped the young princess on the shoulder. Momo turned around and immediately tensed up. "Y-Yes, Asuna?"
She let out a fake smile. "Hey Hinamori, can you help me with something?"
She bit the bottom of her lip, unsure of what to say to the jet black haired woman. She took a moment to look around. There is no sign of Matsumoto or Kira anywhere. "Um, okay..."
With that said, Asuna ushered the peach girl to go with her all the way to the hallway where there is no one around. During this time, Hitsugaya was about to come out of the washroom, but then he noticed the two girls. He stepped back in and watched them pass by. He raised an eyebrow, wondering what they are doing together. "It's almost showtime, why are those two still wandering around here?"
Just as he is about to follow them, he was immediately distracted by his male classmates who is pulling him by the wrist. "Oi Hitsugaya, let's head back already! The last thing we want is one of our star actors to not be present when the show starts!"
"Just...give me a moment," he said. "I remembered I needed to do something important. Don't worry; I'll be back before the play starts."
"Well hurry up then, we don't want to have a midlife crisis at hand."
Toshiro nodded with agreement and then ran in the other direction. However, he was immediately stopped by passing teacher. "Ah Hitsugaya-kun, it has been a while."
"Um, yes it has been," he replied, bowing down to her. "These are one of those days where I wished I wasn't so popular amongst the students and the teachers."
Once he was done talking to the teacher, Hitsugaya resumed his search to find the two female teenagers. He looked through every place they could possibly be, but his efforts were fruitless. After opening his eighth door, he took a moment to look at the display clock. Toshiro then closed his eyes and let out a defeated sigh.
"I better head back now or else I cause a lot of trouble for everyone."
He reopened them again and closed the slide door.
"Hopefully, nothing happens to them."
Meanwhile, Asuna has lead Hinamori outside the school building to a place nearby where the tennis courts and the soccer field are. The peach girl wanted to say something to the jet black haired girl, but she is too nervous that she might do something to harm her. So, she kept her mouth shut and waited for her to say something.
For a moment, she took a look at the large display clock on the school building and noticed that there is no much time left before the play starts. There is only an hour and thirty minutes left. Worried that they're going to be late, she had no other choice, but to tell her. "Um...Asuna, shouldn't we head back now? The others are going to get worried. We're in the first scene of the play."
She suddenly stopped and turned around. "I know Hinamori, but what I needed to ask you is very important. I don't think the other girls are going to understand what I'm going to tell you."
Momo blinked. "I-Is that so?"
She nodded with agreement. "Yes. I have recently realized that I have been mean to you over the past month and I'm dearly sorry for my rude actions."
Asuna suddenly draped her arm around her shoulder and pulled the girl close. As they walked a little further, she continued talking.
"Do you have the heart to forgive me?"
"Well, everyone deserves a second chance," Momo replied. "So, yes...I forgive you."
"Thank you Hinamori." A grin appeared on her face. "You're too KIND!"
Just as she said that, the jet black haired girl pushed the peach against the door of the storage shed. It swung open, causing Momo to crash onto a bed of soccer balls, tennis rackets, mats, and other sports equipment. As she recovering, Fumiko used the opportunity to close the door again and lock it from the outside.
By the time the raven haired girl noticed, she strutted to the door, took hold of the knob with both hands, and turned it. However, it was unable to open it. Feeling desperate, she pulled it a few times before one of her hands began knocking on the door. "Asuna, please open the door! It's not funny!"
Suddenly, she heard a laugh from the outside. "You're so gullible Hinamori. Do you really expect to live a happily ever after with my Toshiro? Well, let me tell you something; get real and give up on him!"
"But I wasn-"
"Have fun staying there."
"Asuna, wait!"
Hearing no voice replying back, Momo pounded against the door, trying to use her strength to break the door open. However, she was too weak to do that. After a few minutes of struggling to escape, the female teenager got tired and stopped. She turned around, leaned against the door, and slowly slid down to the bottom. She curled up into a ball and began sobbing in her arms.
Just when she thought everything is going well, Fumiko had to ruin her day once more. Now, she is jeopardizing the play's success because of her absence. "What am I going to do now?"
Author's Note: Oh geez, Asuna has really done it now. Momo's trapped inside the sport's storage room. Will she be able to make it back to her class on time for the play? Who will save her? Gah, there's two chapters left in the story! It's madness! Find out what happens next in chapter nine! In the meantime, please review! Thanks.
