It wasn't everyday that you could find Akira Hayami dressed up in princess garb, being held captive by a leather-clad, blade-wielding rogue. This was dragging on forever, and she had other places to be. "How much longer are we going to be sitting here, Risa?"

"It's 'The Shadow Queen', Princess Hanagawa." Akira rolled her eyes, kicking her captor in the shin playfully. Her friend always did take her performances seriously.

"I don't understand why I had to play the princess, and you're the badass evil queen. I could've totally beat you out if they had looked past the length of our hair." Risa chuckled despite herself. It was true that they had seen her short, spiked hair and immediately after assigned her the role. It was the only reason that Shouko was playing the sorceress Hoshizawa. Her hair was long enough to sew vines into, and thus she was perfect for the part.

"Well, maybe if you kept your hair short, Princess, you would have been in the running. Your hair was perfectly fine before. Now look at you, running around with that shoulder-length hair thinking you're better than the rest of us!" Akira had to pop her hand on top of her mouth to conceal her laughter. Usually she got her hair cut during winter break, but she had decided against it this year, much to the surprise of her classmates and family. She told them that it was time for a change; she had entered her final year of school and it was the last chance to make an impression.

Her true reasoning was that it looked too much like BlackRose for her to be comfortable.

Kenji had been the first to point it out, saying rather bluntly that she looked exactly like her game character, only without the tattoos and pink hair. Akira had never really thought that she looked so much like the Heavy Blade, but upon further inspection she discovered that the two were like twins. Except that one was toned, tall, tan, and was proud enough to strut around in an armored bikini top.

"Well, you found us." She was snapped from her thoughts at Risa's lines. The prince (some first-year boy she didn't know) and Shouko were standing before them, waving around a sword and a staff respectively. Akira instinctively plastered on her scared face, clutching at her breast and gasping. From the corner of her eye she could see the audience leaning forward in their seats, wanting to know what would happen next.

"Give us back the princess and we'll let you go without harm!" First-year boy had good projection, Akira realized. It was a shame that her role was so bland that she wasn't even thinking of her own lines. Risa tugged lightly at her hair, commanding her to stand up and bear her neck. Leaning one of her foam daggers against her exposed throat, Risa sneered.

"Make one move towards me and she dies." Shouko stepped forward this time, holding her staff against her heart. Her vine dress swayed with every one of her breaths.

"Shadow Queen, the darkness in your heart is too much for even me to purify! You must be killed before you lose control of even your own body!" Akira resisted the urge to smack her palm against her face. The script was horrible. One of the teachers had written it. Though his name had been left off the credits to avoid harrassment, it was pretty obvious who had concieved the play. It was some first-year teacher, the father of the first-year boy who was playing the prince. He was sitting proud in the audience, the one teacher who actually seemed anything close to interested.

Shouko began to wave her staff, chanting improvised gibberish before swinging it towards Risa. She took a hop back, avoiding the staff's blow. It stopped, pointing at the center of her chest. "By the stars be cleansed!"

At this Risa suddenly dropped, screaming and scooting herself in a circle. It took every ounce of self control in Akira's body to keep her from laughing. The death of the Shadow Queen was so over the top it hurt to watch. Finally she stopped moving, flailing her hands to the side and sticking her tongue out. It was Akira's turn now.

Stepping over the now 'dead' Risa, she bowed before the prince and allowed him to take her hand. "Thank you, brave prince and mighty sorcerer. The Shadow Queen will rule no more over any land, not even the Bridge of the Dead, which shall become again part of my kingdom." She felt the first-year get closer, and she fought the urge to turn and flee. He was taller than her, enveloping her in all his... person.

"There is one last thing for me to do, milady."

"And what is that?" He bent down to meet her lips, closing his eyes as he prepared for impact. Akira was leaned forward to return the motion when an image of Kenji appeared in her head. She turned away and fled off the stage, leaving the first-year without any lip action and the rest of the cast to stand around stupidly. The plan had been to let the two kiss, close the curtains, and then get the hell out of there as fast as possible. Now even the curtain boy was confused, looking blankly at the director.

The audience was just as confused as the cast, whispering to each other and looking around wildly. What had just happened? Kazu was the first to leap out of his chair, manuvering his way through the crowd and out the back door. There he found Akira with her face in her hands, the small plastic crown sitting next to her. "Akira...?"

"I just couldn't... I've pissed a lot of people off, haven't I Kazu?" She looked at him, a hurt fire burning in her eyes. Fumikazu sighed. She would never openly cry.

"Well, other than everyone in the audience and probably the guy playing the prince, no."

She chuckled. "Poor him. I'm pretty sure the only reason he tried out for that role was the kiss, and he didn't-" Her phone, hidden under layers of dress, began to vibrate. Digging around until she found her pocket, she rolled her eyes at Kazu and flipped it open. He hummed, waiting for her to respond to whatever text she had gotten.

The next thing he knew, her phone was on the ground and she had fallen. "Akira!"

"I'm... fine. I just... I need to call Kenji." Kazu offered her an arm, which she shakingly took.

"Now? Can't you wait until-"

"Now. Do you have any change I could borrow for a phone?" Kazu nodded, dropping a few coins into her hands before she fled, lifting her dress up as she ran.

"Hey Akira, you forgot- Oh, nevermind." He picked up her cell for her, wanting to see what had startled his usually unshakable sister. What he saw nearly made him drop the phone as well.

On the screen was a picture of Aura, followed by a scrambled letter. The subject line read, in capital lettering;

NEED HELP DYING