Chapter 29: "Not Exactly Shakespeare"

[Tsurumi Rumi POV]

I was sitting next to an unlikely group of teenagers in the auditorium. I was between Haruko and the Class Rep, with Ito in front of me; all of us were watching the rehearsals of the play. Both Akari and Kojima were on stage, each performing their roles.

Akari has a smile on her face as she recites her lines with flourishes of her hands and body. The quintessential Venetian noble lady, a member of the upper crust. But unlike her peers she was supposed to be down to Earth, and far more reasonable.

Kojima's acting on the other hand was the complete opposite. She was far more stiff and formal, measured steps and facial expressions. As was appropriate for her role as a guard for the Royal Family.

The chainmail situation had finally ended, and the Drama Club was able to proceed with the production of the play, albeit, with one major change.

The play's concept and writing were changed at a fundamental level. Why?

Chainmail made it difficult to track down the original source, since it was sent between nearly hundreds of devices in a short span of time. Retroactively trying to find the first sender was difficult and time consuming, a luxury we didn't have. But did we really have to? What if we could just get rid of the problem? Well, the chainmail started out of a desire to be with Ito for the female role, then getting rid of the entire problem was easy: just remove the male role.

I discussed it with Ito, and he was more than willing to step down if it meant that the Drama Club could continue in peace. His intentions were all well and good, but it would mean nothing if we could offer no alternative. So the Class Rep and I spent all night editing and formatting the play for our grand idea.

Imagine this: two female leads to portray two female characters caught in a dangerous and controversial romance of forbidden love. Riveting, isn't it? In reality, we just had the male lines said by a female and had it fit the gender with some editing.

We had pitched the idea to the Director, who was easily convinced after Ito and Kojima had thrown their weight behind it. The Director held a club meeting after nearly two weeks of inactivity to announce the changes, to the dismay of many (mostly girls). Eventually auditions had resumed, but the amount of prospective actors was greatly reduced. And at the end of it all, Akari and Kojima were casted for the leads of this new play.

Kojima and Akari got on surprisingly well. Kojima became an umbrella of sorts, including Akari into her own clique once in a while, which had the side effect of elevating Akari's social standing within the club. With all these changes, the rumors were dispersed. Without Ito being in the play, the theory that AKari and the Director were somehow involved with trying to pair up the two was destroyed. The chainmail also stopped, most likely because whoever had sent it saw the changes within the club, and that Akari was no longer an easy target.

The Director called the successful rehearsal to an end and thanked everyone for their hard work. We walk out of the auditorium to await Kojima and Akari. A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around me and I felt myself being pushed into an embrace by Haruko. "Thanks best friend."

"I-I really didn't do anything!"

"No, you did," said Haruko firmly. "You were able to do what I couldn't all those years ago… thanks…"

"You're welcome." I respond back with a smile.

"I should probably go and apologize to Kojima, huh? I had her figured out completely wrong."

I watched as Haruko walked off towards Kojima and Akari with a determined expression on her face. Haruko really was a great girl. She was honest and self-aware, able to see her faults and try to fix them. She understood that she was an emotional person who tends to fly off the handle, but that's also why she's equally willing to apologize when the time comes. It's probably why I could handle her as a friend, I could trust her words at face value.

I turned towards the Class Rep. "U-uhhhh, t-thanks for the help… Class Rep."

Class Rep looked surprised for a moment before beaming at me. "Not a problem! I could tell you were someone to always help others. And I was just happy to help someone who goes this far for their friends."

Class Rep grabbed her bag as Akari, Kojima, and Haruko approached. "Well, I got to go home! Goodbye everyone, Rumi-chan! And you can rely on me some more, we're friends right?"

Wait, so we were friends? When!?

The rest of the group were busy afterwards, and we all separated. Haruko and Akari went home. Kojima said she's going to the faculty office to turn in a late assignment. This just left Ito and I standing around awkwardly.

"I'm going." I announced and grabbed my bag.

"Ah, me as well."

Unfortunately for me, we both had to walk to the train station. I made sure to stay a fair distance away from the smiling insect.

Δ▼Δ

I decided to go to Mr. Donut before heading home, and rode a downtown train as opposed to my usual uptown one towards Shibuya. As I got off the train and onto the platform I felt an eerie sensation over my shoulder. I don't dare turn around and briskly walk down the steps… or as briskly as I could in the sea of people.

As I walked out onto the street, I saw the sign for Mr. Donut. That eerie feeling was still there. I looked over my shoulder and spotted him.

"Are you stalking me!?" I growled at Ito.

The pretty-boy quickly held his arms up in surrender. "I live this way. It's just a coincidence." His eyes flicked to my clenched fist. "I swear."

I opened my mouth, fully intent on verbally destroying his life, but I noticed a familiar person walking out of the confectionary shop. A relatively tall man with a thin frame, messy hair, and wearing a suit with a loose tie. "Hey, Hachiman!"

The detective cocked his head and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, Rumi? Is that you?"

"Rumi!?" Ito frowned and whispered in disbelief.

Hachiman turned around and walked up to us. "It's pretty late. What are you doing downtown?"

"I was just heading home from club." I responded, a little elated at his obvious concern. "I was just stopping by for a snack. What are you doing here?"

"I left the office early today, so I was also thinking of stopping here for a snack. I got some event in the evening so I need to go home and prepare."

"Event?" I asked warily, eyes narrowing at the man in suspicion. Hachiman never went out for anything social. In fact, he had probably left his apartment more times these last few months than the past 4 years combined. Hold on…

"It wouldn't have anything to do with Yukino, would it?" I asked accusingly.

"I uhhhh…" Hachiman's eyes grew wide and he frantically looked around. Thought he could weasel his way out of this one, eh? His wandering gaze landed on something behind me. "Who's this?"

Oh right, I completely forgot Ito was still here. "Oh yeah, this is my…" Insect? Pest? Some other synonym for annoying existence? "...clubmate. His name is—"

"Ito. Ito Mitsunobu." Ito stepped forward and offered a hand. "A pleasure to meet you."

Why did Ito sound like he was about to walk off into battle?

Hachiman looked between Ito's face and his hand before smirking and taking the handshake. "I'm Hikigaya Hachiman."

Ito made a sound as if he was choking. A cross between a squeak and a squeal. "Hachiman!?"

Hachiman's smirk became downright predatory. I recognized that glint in his eyes. "I hope Rumi hasn't been giving you too much trouble in the club," he said with a level of maturity I had NEVER heard out of his mouth, EVER. "She tends to be a handful."

Ito blinked, his face doing a great impression of a blank slate.

I blushed and quickly elbowed Hachiman. "S-Shut up! What do you mean I'm a handful!? I'm more responsible than you!"

All the pain did was elicit a laugh out of Hachiman. He held his injured side and still put out a hand to ruffle my hair. "You see what I mean?"

I growled angrily and batted his hand away.

Ito blinked again before showing that smile I remembered from yesterday slowly. "Yeah, I can understand exactly what you mean."

"You too!?" I exclaimed.

Hachiman nodded sagely. "You just need to be patient with her. She's a good kid, she'll come around eventually."

Ito raised his eyebrows in surprise. His cheeks glowed a faint red as he looked at his shuffling feet. "I-I see."

I looked between the two boys in confusion. I didn't know if it was just me, but I couldn't help but feel as if they were having an entirely different conversation despite communicating words that were vaguely related. Is this how guys speak? Shizuka was right: they were as dumb as bricks and twice as obtuse.

"Yo, Rumi. I'll buy you a snack and drive you home. I parked close." Hachiman turned towards Ito. "What about you, kid?"

"I'm going to have to decline the generous offer." Ito bowed his head. What the hell, since when was he so reverent towards Hachiman? "I'm supposed to be home for dinner soon."

"I see. Get home safely."

"Thank you. Good evening, Hikigaya-san, Tsurumi-san." With another quick bow of his head in my direction he spun on his heel and walked down the block, in the opposite direction of Mr. Donut.

Hachiman and I stood side by side as we watched him go.

"He seems like a nice kid." Commented Hachiman, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

I clicked my tongue and looked to the side in annoyance. "He's one of those popular riajuu bastards. Constantly bothering me too. He has this disgusting smile on his face everytime I see him. It's nauseating."

"Hmm, but they're not fake smiles."

I snapped my head back at Hachiman. "When did you escape the sanitorium?" Had Hachiman gone mad?

Hachiman's eyes widened as he looked at me in surprise. "You didn't notice? He only smiles when you're looking at him."

Only smiled… when I'm looking at him? Wait, then wouldn't that mean? My cheeks burst into flames at the implications. Nah, there's no way this is true. NO WAY. Absolutely not allowed. Heresy.

I laughed darkly, which got Hachiman's attention. I whipped out a foot and sent it careening into his knees.

"You owe me the Special Donut, you jerk! Don't embarrass me in public ever again!"

Hachiman yelped in pain. "The patented Shizuka technique!"

Interlude: "Tsurumi Rumi"

Author's Note:

And such is the conclusion to the Rumi Arc. Is it short? Yes. Was the ending anti-climatic as all hell? Yes. Was it unsatisfying? Guilty as charged. But with 2 chapters left in Arc 1, I just want to be done. Next chapter is an extended thing that should make it up to my disappointed readers. I had fun writing it, so I'm optimistic it will go over well. Until next time.

Oh yeah, guess I broke 200k words. I'm kind of astonished I was even capable of that.

-SouBU
(Editors: Xynovitch; thatguy8801; yahallo)