Chapter 8:
"Is the paint ready?" a girl whispered from the shadows of the theater catwalk.
"Yeah, it will be like a remake of 'Carrie'." The other girl replied, giggling.
"Sssshhh…here they come…"
"Welcome, my new batch of Drama guilders. I'm Prof. Chiharu Yoshi, your drama director!''
No Response…
''Okay! Umm…why don't you al find your seats?''
(A lot of shuffling)
Ren and Pirika arrived together. As soon as Ren saw her, he grabbed and held on to her hand. He still had his very serious and solemn look on his face but the way he held her was almost…gentle.
''Let's sit in the back, where Prof. Weirdo can't see us…" he whispered into her ear.
She smiled and nodded and followed him to the opposite side of the room. They luckily found two chairs together.
''Will these be okay?"
"Of course."
She laid her head on his shoulder and relaxed.
"You don't mind, do you?"
Ren let out a breath. He hadn't realized he was holding his breath. ''No, of course not." He said and leaned his cheek against her head.
''Ahhh! And here are the two lovebirds and leads of our play."
The two blushed and disconnected, though very hesitantly.
"Does anyone here know their Shakespeare?"
No Response…
"All right, I guess not…For the knowledge of those who don't know, we'll be doing one of Shakespeare's greatest works, 'The taming of the shrew'. Has anyone seen it? "
Still no Response…
"I guess not…I've noticed that young people such as yourselves don't appreciate Shakespeare nowadays."
No Response…
"So I've decided to give it a more modern touch. Has anyone seen the movie '10 things I hate about you'?"
Squeals from the females. The drama guild has 25 members but with only 5 males (not counting the homosexuals).
"Good! I guess most of know it. I have already selected who will get the lead roles. Ms. Usui will be Kat and Mr. Tao as Peter"
Squeals…
"Congratulations, Pirika! Ren!"
"They are perfect. I've seen them together fighting with each other but still crazy about the other just like Katherine and Petrucio..." The Professor sighed. "…and as you all well know Mr. Liserg Deithyl will handle the music and sound effects,"
"Congrats, Lyserg!"
"He will be working with Ms. Jeanne? I believe?"
The silver-haired freshman nodded but didn't speak.
"She will be singing…"
Meanwhile in the shadows…
"That kid sing? I'd be surprise if she could talk."
"What! She got the lead without even auditioning. That's not fair. I wanted the part. Why does she get all the luck? The last time I played the lead it was with Makoto Tendo."
"Eww…the Science freak?"
"Yes, and she got one of the on of the cutest juniors of the year, aside from Lyserg…It's just not fair."
''Don't worry. We'll get even soon…"
"Look! They're coming up the stage."
"Okay, first. We'll do some drills. Pirika stand over there and read these lines. And remember with PASSION…" they heard Prof. Yoshi say.
"Here?"
"Perfect…give me the paint." The cheerleader said to companion.
"The paint! It's not here!"
"Of course not…because it's with me…"
"Anna?"
Anna smiled, sinisterly. "Surprised? Manta, NOW!"
"AHH!"
"What was that?" Pirika asked, running to Ren.
"Sounds like a scream…but it's probably nothing…"
"Do you think so?"
He just shrugged. "Let's continue our rehearsals, okay?"
She smiled. "Okay… I love you…"
"Mmmm…I love you too…"
Chapter 9:
After months of practice, the play finally came and gone. The whole three performances were sold out. After the last night's performance, the whole gang met up at the Asakura residence.
"Wow! Your performance was like…wow!" Tamao exclaimed. She was snuggled up against Horohoro. "Have you ever thought of being an actress?"
''Thanks. I'm glad you liked it." Pirika replied. She and Ren were in adjacent chairs, holding hands.
"Of course we liked it. You made a fitting shrew. I'm so glad Ren tamed you?"
"What do you mean by that!'' she demanded.
"Ummm…it's not what you think. You were just a bit loud before…"
"WHAT!"
''By the way, Ren. There's something I wanted to give you since three days ago." Her brother interrupted.
"Really? What is it?"
''This!"
The punch came as a surprise to Ren. He had expected it on the first day of the play.
''You kissed her! I told you not to! Not even for the play! You kissed her not only once…not only twice but thrice right in front of me!''
"When have you ever known me to do as I'm told?"
"You…you…"
"Darling, no!" Tamao said, holding her boyfriend back.
"But I…"
"No. Let them be. Your sister is a big girl now…"
"BUT…"
''No buts…Congratulations, both of you."
"Yeah, congrats." Mumbled a very protective older brother.
"Thank you big brother, Tamao.''
''You're welcome, sis. Hey! Has anyone seen Yoh?"
"No, Hao has gone too? Anna, where are they?"
Anna shrugged, seemingly uncaring but they could see her hands trembling…
"Anna, I wanted to thank you for exposing my friends as traitors. With friends like those, who needs enemies." Pirika thanked her. Manta told her about her so-called-friends' plot. "By the way, I won't be cheerleading anymore."
"Really? What will you be doing now?" Tamao asked.
"Gymnastics! It's sort of like cheerleading but better and minus the pom-poms.
"Well, how does Ren feel about it?"
"It's fine," he mumbled.
"I bet your only okay with this because you and Pirika will be training together and you'd be able to keep an eye on her," Tamao teased.
He shrugged. "Of course."
"Umm…Ren. You know I was only teasing, right?"
"You were teasing but I wasn't"
The pink-haired prophetess gave a nervous laugh and turned to look at her boyfriend.
Horohoro grinned. "At least I won't have to baby-sit her all the time. Right, Anna?"
Anna nodded but said nothing. She continued to watch the perfectly full moon as she had done for most of the night.
