After a lot of detective work, Setsu found out the reason for the big street fight. An upperclassman girl named Kasa and a genin boy had a bad breakup. She did not want to date him anymore, but he did not listen. He approached her after school and even followed her home. She got scared.
Not knowing where else to turn, she asked the bad girls for help.
The bad girls were already anti-shinobi. There was a huge power imbalance between the girls from the civilian school and the boys from the Academy. The imbalance made it easy for bullying to happen, especially within relationships. It caused years of built-up resentment… generations of built-up resentment. So the next time the genin boy went after Kasa, the bad girls retaliated.
But then, hearing this, the other genin boys retaliated back. It did not look good for a shinobi to have been beaten by civilian girls. And so, the attacks went back and forth until it eventually broke into the huge fight we saw.
"I don't think we saw the end of it," Setsu whispered. "It started with Kasa, but it's become more than that."
Not even Kasa herself could sway any of the bad girls now. This wasn't going to be fixed with a single talk… granted we could get one of the bad girls to talk to us in the first place. They weren't known for being friendly.
"Great, how do we fix this then?" Dai asked.
We all turned to Tamaki, who thought hard. Then she thought harder, pacing across the room.
In the end, she deflated. She got nothing.
"Someone has to know what to do," I mumbled. An idea came to me. "Why don't we ask Takahashi?" He was, after all, the class representative before us.
Tamaki looked unsure but agreed. "I guess it can't hurt."
It was not hard to find Takahashi. He often stayed in the school late, cleaning hallways or doing administrative things for the principal. We found him in the teacher's office, sorting and stacking all the daily journals.
When we entered, he didn't look up.
"Miss Representative," he said coldly.
"Hi Takahashi," I said.
"Hi Takahashi, we were hoping for your advice," Tamaki said.
He paused. "Are you reconsidering your new policies?" he asked carefully.
Tamaki's chest puffed. "Our new policies are just fine!"
"Actually, it's about the bad girls," I said. I explained to him the situation. "Do you know what we should do?"
He crossed his arms. "If you read the rulebook, the school prohibits dating. Expel the students who break the rule."
"What!" Tamaki said.
"A letter home is ineffective, since many students don't come from honorable families. But take away their wristbands and their education, and it'll discourage incidences like this in the future. If anything, it'll stop the infection of bad behavior to the other students."
"You can't expect us to punish students for dating!"
"I expect you to look at the facts. Most conflicts between this school and the Academy go back to meaningless romantic relationships by students far too immature for one."
"Asking people to not fall in love-" Takahashi snorted. Tamaki got red with anger. "-is like asking people to not breathe. I'm sorry, but that's horrible advice!"
"What do you propose then?" Takahashi asked coldly.
"What about holding the bullies accountable? It looks like half the problem is coming from the shinobi side. If they're genin, we can send letters to their instructors-"
"Be realistic," Takahashi scorned. "You think seasoned shinobi will care for petty complaints? You might as well be accusing the instructors themselves of dishonor. All it'll do is piss everyone off."
They went back and forth, their voices getting louder. I thought at some point the tension would break and they'd come to a solution. But instead of coming together, they only stood further apart.
Finally, Tamaki and Takahashi had enough of each other.
"This is a waste of time. Let's go, Ayae."
"Miss Representative."
I stopped at the door.
"Your policies. Are they to serve the school? Or your ego."
Tamaki stopped pulling my wrist. "Excuse me?"
Takahashi did not take his words back. "You're not the first clan kid to become student representative. They like to come in with big ideas and soak in the glory for the year or two they're here. They don't have to deal with the long term consequences. They don't see the future students who get harmed or spend years cleaning up the damage."
Tamaki shielded me behind her. "How-!"
The journal wrinkled in his grip. Takahashi was looking at me only. "You might be able to afford picking fights with the shinobi, but not everyone in this school has the same privilege. I only ask you to remember that, Miss Representative, before you burn all the school's good will to the ground."
.
The door to the club room slammed open. Tamaki stomped in, fuming.
Ayame winced. "I'm guessing it didn't go well?"
"Oh my god, I have never met a bigger snob!" Tamaki said, "We're busting our butts, and instead of taking one second to actually understand what we're doing, he accuses us of being attention hoggers!"
"What!" Setsu exclaimed.
"Okay, can I just say, we have way easier ways of getting attention," Dai said.
"His advice is also garbage," Tamaki ranted, kicking a chair. "BAH, what a waste of time!"
Ayame rubbed Tamaki's shoulders, trying to calm her down.
Ayame decided it was no good to stress out any more over this. Not everything had easy solutions, and if this problem was as messy and complicated as Setsu claimed, then we weren't going to come up with something overnight.
And that was okay. We could focus on something else.
"I do have news that'll cheer you up," Ayame said.
Tamaki looked up.
"I did the numbers, I think your idea for the fall fundraiser will work!"
"Really?!"
Ayame nodded.
The fall fundraiser was a big event to get donations to the school. It was important the fundraiser went well, or there wouldn't be enough money to run the school for the rest of the year. Tamaki had been working nonstop on planning the details.
Excited, Tamaki spread a big scroll out on the table for us to see her big idea.
Our eyes went wide.
"Oh…"
"My…"
"YES! Yes, yes, a million times yes!" Setsu jumped.
Tamaki looked proud. "Just asking for money isn't going to get you money," she explained. "You need to make something that people would pay to have… or see."
Tamaki's family was deeply in show business. She knew her stuff when it came to entertainment and pulling in lots of wealthy patrons.
Her idea was this: for one night, we would transform the school into a huge extravaganza. Like Tamaki's birthday parties, there would be a theme.
The theme this time was based on Setsu's all-time favorite story, a tale known as Enchanted Castle. More than the characters and the romance, the atmosphere of the story was magical, unlike anything anyone would see. Tamaki wanted to bring the setting to life.
Of course, being such a big project, Tamaki needed to clear the finances with Ayame. We would need to use existing school funds. It would be risky. But after a lot of calculations, Ayame thought it was worth the risk. As her dad says, you need to spend money to make money.
And so, for the next two weeks, we went all out. We decorated the school with giant cut-outs of candles and clocks. We taped red paper on the floors to make a red carpet. The classrooms were turned into different rooms of a castle. Riku and the girls sew costumes. Yuuka and the boys assembled a stage.
I was tasked with spreading the word. The old way was to put up posters. This time would be different. I went door to door, person to person, to hand everyone a special invitation. It was a piece of paper folded three times with a wax seal on it.
And it was not just the parents who got one. Everyone did-civilians and ninjas, adults and kids. The shopkeepers got invitations. The Academy students got invitations. The clans got invitations. All my grumpy uncles at the police station, and Shisui, got invitations. I bumped into Sasuke and handed him one too.
He grimaced. "Looks girly."
"Oh, it's super girly. AND FUN!"
I didn't wait for his reaction, already running for my next stop. "Let your family know they're invited too!" I called back, waving.
I began with a giant sack that was twice my size. By sunset, the sack had completely deflated. I looked around. I had one invitation left, but the streets had gone empty.
I noticed a person on the roof.
"Hey!" I waved.
The person stopped. He pointed to himself.
I nodded, and he came down.
"Hello, mister! You are invited to the Enchanted Castle!" I said, handing him my last invitation.
He opened the letter. His eyes gleamed.
"There will be lots of food, music, theater, and dance!" I explained. "Won't you please be our guest?"
"Can I bring a friend?" he asked.
"Yes! Please bring as many friends as you can!"
"Yosh! Consider me a guest!" he said, giving me a thumbs up.
I beamed.
We waved goodbye.
Done, I collapsed and watched the last of the pretty sunset.
.
The day of the fundraiser came. Everything was set. All the students were in place. Setsu sat at a table by the door, handing out paper masks to incoming guests.
I was outside with some other students. We were dressed in costume and holding signs. Some of us were forks and knives. Others were plates and cups. I was a teapot, short and stout.
To our joy, people kept coming and coming. We had everyone from little kids to the members of the civilian council.
"Oh little Ayae, what is all this!"
"You'll see soon enough, Mister Saitou! Oh, hello, Missus Nakamura!"
"Ah, how cute!" Mrs. Nakamura exclaimed in delight, pinching my spout. Giggling, I went on tip-toes to balance myself.
Then Gin and his team showed up. Their forehead protectors caught the attention of our classmates.
"Ginjiro, Hosei!" Setsu greeted. She noticed Ijouna and smiled. "Welcome to the Enchanted Castle, where nothing is as it appears. Please take a mask. We have two choices: Beauty or Beast."
Inside the castle, Ayame greeted them from the Dining Room. In front of her was a booth filled with all sorts of strange and delightful snacks. The most popular was an ultra thin pancake. You could have it sweet, like with strawberries or chocolate. Or you could have it savory, like with meat and mushrooms!
"Wait, you have it in curry too?!" Gin demanded, pointing.
"Only five ryou," Ayame said, winking.
Gin rushed to take out his wallet. "I have the money!"
Other ninjas and Academy students started coming in too. I noticed the green mister from before. As promised, he brought friends!
"Oh my… Ayae, is that you?"
I jumped. "Kurenai?"
Kurenai leaned down. "You've grown so much. How are you, Ayae?"
"Great!" I said, going on tip-toes. "I'm in normal school now!"
"I see that." She looked surprised but delighted.
"Please enjoy!" I said, beckoning to the table. "Thank you so much for supporting us!"
Setsu gave her greetings. "Please choose a mask: Beauty or Beast!"
Kurenai chose the Beauty mask. Her friend in the spiky ponytail chose the Beast mask. The green mister could not decide.
"I am Beauty!" he exclaimed. He held the Beauty mask to his face while holding the Beast mask before his sleepy-looking friend. "No, I am the mighty Beast!" he cried, swapping their masks. He did this a few more times.
Setsu sweatdropped.
Inside, I heard him exclaim, "WHAT WONDERS! You have CURRY?!"
Giggling, I went back to greeting the other guests.
I nearly dropped my sign when I saw who was down the road. Shisui waved. Michio un-pocketed his hands and ran over.
"Honey doll!" Michio exclaimed, jumping on me full-body.
My feet kicked the sky. Shisui rolled me back up.
Both Shisui and Michio were wearing civilian clothes. They looked incredible!
Shisui was very rebellious with his pink flannel button-up and rolled up sleeves. Underneath he had on a printed t-shirt. Michio had a hoodie with many zippers and sneaker shoes. His fashion was perfect as always, getting lots of gossip and admiring looks from the other students.
But the person I couldn't look away from was Itachi. He was also out of his ninja gear. His style was a lot less flashy, but I thought the clothes fit him well. In them, he almost looked like a different person!
"You made it!" I couldn't help the fat smile on my face.
Itachi pulled out his paper invitation. "Sasuke… he gave me this."
"Where is Sasuke?" I asked, not seeing him.
Shisui shrugged. "We tried, but he adamantly refused to go to a 'princess party' as he put it."
"His loss!" Michio said, already dashing off to the tables.
Setsu stood up. "Michio?!"
He waved. She looked happy enough to faint.
The crowd was getting bigger. I urged Shisui and Itachi to go in too. "Go, go! Have fun!"
Shisui didn't need to be told twice, already sniffing the food. Inside, I heard his voice. "Wait, is that curry?!"
I greeted many more people. There were lots of familiar faces. Emi and Hiro. Teacher Funeno and Teacher Iruka. Hana and her brother. Ms. Hyuuga with her niece. The two girls from the flower shop, one pulling the wrist of the other.
I saw a figure running down the road.
"Daddy!" I cried.
His glasses were lopsided and his face was all red. "I'm not late, am I, sweetie?!"
"Just in time!"
Sitting on his shoulders was Naruto. My dad looked up. "Oh, I bumped into this fellow on my way here."
"I'm hungry," Naruto grumbled. "Is there food?"
Inside, "What the hell is this, and give me ten more, lady!"
"No, me, I have the money!"
"No, save some of that curry for me!"
Soon the performances began in the Living Room. Setsu and Reina had done the screenwriting, Kumiko and I had done the choreography, and Tamaki had done the directing.
Masae, dressed as a prince, and Yuuka, dressed as a pauper, were now on stage.
"You fool! You judge me on appearance," Yuuka cried, ripping off her costume and putting on a pointy hat. "Don't you realize people are not always as they appear?"
"A magician?!" Masae gasped, dramatically leaning back.
"Yes," Yuuka said, laughing evilly into her long robes. "It is I, Burakku Majishan, great demonic cultivator and overseer of the eight realms, o ho ho, E HE HE!"
Backstage, the rest of us sweatdropped.
"Yuuka is having a lot of fun with this, isn't she," Nanami said, smiling stiffly.
"She does do a lot of role-play," Reina said, scratching her cheek.
"Mimi, you're up!"
Mimi nearly dropped the textbook in her hands. The crew took it away and replaced it with a rose, then pushed her out.
"What is this, a rose maiden? Ah but remember this and remember well, even an appearance as hers can be deceiving! For those who wear Beauty may very well be Beast! And those who wear Beast may very well be Beauty!"
The audience gasped when a group in wolf costumes jumped on stage. And they gasped again when the wolves bowed before Mimi.
"Y-yes!" Mimi cried, snapping shut her eyes. "The Queen of Wild! It is… I?"
Sitting in front was the green mister, who gasped a third time. He so caught up in the story, he changed expressions and poses as dramatically as the actors on stage!
Giggling, I put my own costume's hat back on. The tableware and I were off to entertain the guests in the other rooms.
We did songs. We did dances. If anyone had questions, they could also come to us.
In the Ballroom, Ms. Hyuuga and my dad were teaching each other dance moves. My dad didn't know how to dance at all but he was good at making up moves on the spot! In one, he did a one-legged chicken. Wanting attention, Naruto did his own, bigger and better version. Laughing, Ms. Hyuuga clapped while her niece stared in awe.
I noticed Shisui and Kurenai in the corner. He ran his fingers over his hair.
"Sorry, something's wrong with my eyes. Because I can't seem to take them off you."
I collapsed. Five years, and that was the best he got? How corny!
Kurenai cracked a smile.
THAT WORKED?
Michio had tears in his eyes. "Capt'n Shishi really is a pro."
Eventually I made my way to the Game Room, where people went to play puzzle and activity games. One of them involved a spinning wheel and words.
A big crowd was watching Gin, who had made it to the furthest level of anyone. But he looked to be one turn away from losing everything.
Riku, dressed as a butler, was the host of the game. "It's not too late to forfeit," he said kindly, sweating.
Silent, Gin simply lowered his cap. "You seem to forget…" He twisted his cap back. "I HAVE MONEY NOW!" Eyes aflame, he held out another one-ryou bill as if it were a shuriken.
Riku went wide-eyed.
"I buy a KO!" Gin shouted.
"No ko," Dai said without blinking, pulling the paper syllable away.
"Dammit, give me a RO!"
"No ro."
Gin handed over another bill. "WA!"
"One wa."
Everyone in the crowd held their breaths.
Gin stared blankly at the incomplete message. After another minute of nothing, the crowd collapsed. He really was bad at this!
"Ma… mi… mu… give me a mo? Tale as old as time, song as old as lime!"
"... close enough. Spin the wheel," Dai said, stuffing the wads of cash down my spout.
"YEAH, TAKE THAT!" Gin punched the air. The crowd cheered. Blushing, Riku handed him his prize.
I brought the money to Ayame, who was handing out another curry pancake. Under the table, by her feet, were cardboard boxes of one- and five-ryou bills. There had to be thousands and thousands inside each box.
I added the money from the Game Room. Ayame wiped her hands.
"Thanks Ayae. Tamaki said we're moving onto second shifts. So you can take a break if you want."
"Really?"
Ayame nodded.
"You wouldn't have seen Itachi, would you?"
Ayame said she caught him briefly, but that was a while ago. She told me to maybe try the West Wing.
I took her advice. There were many people in the West Wing, but I didn't see Itachi. I opened and closed door after door.
The door to the Forbidden Room caught my attention.
I pushed it open.
To my disappointment, he wasn't there. Tamaki was there, though, surrounded by a group of students. The masks made it hard to tell who was whom, but I thought one of the girls might be Sayuri.
Tamaki tensed but then relaxed seeing it was me. She looked tired.
"Oh, Ayae," she said, "are you looking for something?"
"Ah, yeah! Have you seen Itachi?" I asked.
Tamaki shook her head. "Sorry, I haven't."
"Oh. Okay," I said.
I left, making sure to close the door. It looked like they were talking about something important and wanted to be away from the noise.
As I ran down the hallway, I bumped into another group of girls, who had been too caught up to notice me.
"Oh, Ayae!"
I decided maybe they knew where Itachi might be.
"Uchiha Itachi? Actually, yeah, we saw him," one of the girls said, "back in the Ballroom, a while ago."
One of the other girls giggled. "He's very handsome! You didn't tell us he was so handsome!"
The rest murmured in agreement, some breaking into giggles of their own.
I beamed. "Did he tell you where he was going?" I asked, hopeful. I had already checked the Ballroom, but he wasn't there.
The girl rubbed her neck. "Sorry… I didn't talk to him. Too scary for me." She looked at the others, but they all shook their heads too.
I blinked. "Scary?"
"Ah! No, no, it's not like that," the girl said, waving her hands. "Just… it's different hearing him in your stories and seeing him in real life. Like, with celebrities and stuff."
"Oh my gods, you should have seen Mai! I've never seen her freeze up like that. After years of oh, I talk to clan kids all the time, I know everything about clan lifestyles, I live so close to a clan, I practically live in one… and she couldn't take a single step towards him!"
Mai went cherry red. "I do talk to clan kids! I do, I do! But him... h-he's different!"
I swallowed. "What do you mean?"
Mai looked away, tightly hugging her arms. "Don't you feel it? It's like… when you see a beautiful sword. You don't want to get too close."
I didn't feel it. I had no clue what she was talking about. But the other girls nodded and agreed.
Seeing my face, the first girl closed her mouth. "Ah, Ayae, we're not saying there's anything wrong with your cousin. Just… he's a ninja, and we're not. We're different, that's all."
Different enough to not talk to each other?
I didn't ask that, though, just nodding.
It soon became clear that asking people was not going to lead me any closer to Itachi. I started getting worried that Itachi might have already left.
To my relief, I did find him. He had been in the East Wing, inside the Library. It was, of course, the furthest room possible from where I was. I had literally opened and closed every door before his.
I collapsed.
"The enchantment is actually a curse. If true love is not achieved before midnight, then all the false appearances become real. The costume becomes the person." Itachi lowered the book. "As far as curses go, it could be worse."
"You're okay if I become a teapot," I deadpanned.
"They're valuable imports," he said, smiling. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't get broken."
He chuckled, jumping back from my attempts to whack him. He didn't need to try very hard. With how poofy my costume was, my arms did little more than flail at my side.
I had enough of being a teapot. Itachi helped me out of the costume before I died from heat. Because I was only wearing underclothes, I had been too embarrassed to take off the costume. But the Library was empty except for Itachi, so it was okay.
I slouched, sighing in relief. It felt good to move my arms and legs freely again!
My attention fell back on the book he had found.
"Poo, you spoiled yourself the story," I said, pouting. We still had a final act downstairs. We had planned a big surprise and everything!
He bowed his head. "I apologize. I tend to jump ahead."
I took the book from him. I read the title.
One Hundred and One Exotic Tales.
Enchanted Castle, like Wonderland, was only one story out of many. Reading the inside front cover, I learned the collection was gifted to the Konoha Library by the Kurama clan. Setsu had stumbled upon the book by accident years back. All my friends fell in love with the stories very fast. I never read any, having been caught up on training back then.
I flipped through the pages, skimming through the tales.
The Sea Prince.
Wishmaker's Kettle.
The All-Gift Box.
Each of the stories happened once upon a time in a land far, far away. The first took place by the ocean, the second by the desert, and the third by the sunrise.
I paused at the third story. It was the only story to have a picture under the title, a drawing of a box with many strange engravings.
My heart skipped. I recognized that box. It was the same box sitting on my desk for years, where I kept my red pencil and orange ribbons and other little gifts.
"How...?" I turned to Itachi for answers.
He looked away.
Confused, I flipped to the inside back cover. Without a doubt, the second name on the check-out card was his.
"You've read this book before?"
He nodded.
Ha, jump ahead, indeed! What a coincidence!
"So this is what you read growing up! I wished I'd known earlier. You could have talked to my other friends about it. They love talking about these stories!"
Excited, I decided to read The All-Gift Box. Itachi must like the story a lot if he got me a box based on it.
The story was short. It was about a craftsman's son, who, out of curiosity, opened a box of cursed things. The cursed things then went on to make people everywhere miserable.
And… that was it.
"Wait, what?" I said, flipping to see we had reached the end of the tale. No way. That couldn't be it.
Wah, so lame! What a lousy story! Flipping the page back, I forced a cheesy smile. So Itachi had bad taste in stories. No one was perfect… right?
"Well, at least he got one good thing," I said, referring to the story. I pointed to the picture of a star floating above the opened box.
"I'm not sure he did," Itachi said.
"What do you mean? He got 'hope' on his side!"
He gave me a look. "It's a box of evil, Ayae. I think the insinuation is that hope is an evil as well, as it makes people endure all the other evils. It prolongs their torment."
I opened my mouth. I closed it.
"Well, I think you're wrong," I said smartly.
"Why?"
"Because what's the point of writing something like that?" I threw up my hands, giving up on pretending to like the story. "Hope is good. Without it, you'll be depressed. And if you're depressed, you won't have energy. And you need lots of energy to chase down the bad things and put them back in the box!"
Itachi hid his smile. I knew I won that one.
"Why did you give me an evil box for my birthday, anyway?" I asked. Had it been a box of rainbow and sunshine, a box of stardust, a box of regular dust, literally anything else, I would have been fine. But a box of evil?! I didn't know whether or not to be offended.
He opened his mouth.
I waited.
To my surprise, he looked… embarrassed?
"It was the only picture I could find." He hid behind his hair. "I… had thought you might welcome seeing something familiar. I had assumed these were the stories you read."
I blinked.
"Say what now?" I asked.
"You told me a while ago you aspired to be a ballerina. When you first danced, you told me it was a swan. I… didn't understand. I thought context might help me understand."
Quietly, he flipped to a page.
I stared at the title.
The Dancing Swan.
"You were different from everything else I knew," he whispered, staring at the floor. "So different that we could sit in the same space, see the same events, and speak the same language... yet still exist in two separate worlds. I thought experiencing what you have would allow me to better see your perspective. You looked… happy... where you were."
He smiled. He told me he didn't like children's stories of the clan very much. They were derivative and formulaic, the same empty power fantasies wrapped in mindless fight after fight, battle after battle.
But the stories here, as bizarre and nonsensical as they were… he found them surprisingly charming. They reminded him of me.
It was as if the book and I had both been touched by the same philosophy, one that had thrived once upon a time in a land far, far away.
.
It took me a moment to come around.
"Itachi... I've never read these stories," I said. "I think I wanted to be a ballerina because I saw a bunch of pretty ballerinas once… and wanted to be one." I couldn't remember if that was the real reason, but that felt true enough. I didn't think I was a very complicated five year old.
He smiled at the floor. "It's a popular dance form at the capital, so I've learned."
I frowned, still bugged by the word he used.
Different.
The girls from the hallway came back to mind.
He was different to them. I was different to him. So different that even sitting side by side…
My heart skipped. If I reached out now, would my hand go through him?
I realized it wasn't the first time I had this fear around Itachi. I had thought it was because I saw Itachi less often than my other friends, because we didn't go to school together. But that wasn't true.
My head hurt.
Itachi froze. My hand was on his arm.
I didn't go through him after all.
"You're not making sense again, Itachi. Of course we're in the same world." I giggled, pinching him. "Can I do this if we're not? And I'm the different one? Who's the one who likes eating vegetables for dinner?"
I didn't expect to get a poke back in the cheek.
He exhaled, looking away with a smile. "It's not bottled tomatoes."
"Hey! I eat canned tomatoes too!"
"That doesn't help your case."
I puffed my cheek.
I smiled, swinging my feet. "Fine, we'll be different together."
My break was over, so I had to go back in the teapot costume again. He helped put the hat on top of my head.
Done, I pushed him out. He shouldn't be in the Library alone!
Tamaki and the team had still a few surprises planned for all the guests. Even if Itachi knew the ending of Enchanted Castle, there was one thing he wouldn't know-the ending for tonight.
In the Living Room, the play went on.
The first half followed the book very closely:
Once upon a time, in a land, far, far away, there lived a magician who spent his life deceiving people. He loved to change his appearance. And anyone who could not recognize him for who he truly was had something precious robbed from them. For some, it was their hair. For others, it was their crown. A shell. A slipper. A sword. A veil. A rose.
The magician lived in the Enchanted Castle, a beautiful place where flower blossoms fell at the same time as the snow, delicious food appeared at command, and ordinary objects would sing and dance. Should he ever become lonely, he would open the castle and throw a big party.
Unbeknownst to the magician, all of his former victims would come attend this party, each of them putting on a costume that hid their true selves. A beauty disguised as a beast. A beast disguised as a beauty.
Thus, it was time for the deceiver to be deceived.
But who was the one truly being fooled?
"O but what is one to do? When faced between his crown and his heart, which will he save and which will he lose. For I, prince of the mountains and ruler of the sea, will rule nothing without my crown returned to me. But if I do not shed this costume by the strike of nine, forever doomed this love of mine. For what she sees is this hideous face, which no maiden would dare embrace."
The curtains closed behind Masae.
Itachi and I arrived just in time for the intermission. I noticed the green mister sobbing into his sleeve. The mister's lazy friend noticed us on his way out of his seat.
I thought he wanted to ask me for directions, but his focus was on Itachi.
"Well this is a surprise," he said.
Itachi seemed to know who he was behind the paper mask. He didn't go to him though, staying by my side.
"I didn't realize the Uchiha clan had time to support these community events." The man's gaze floated up somewhere behind us, before he looked down and noticed our held hands. His eye closed in a smile. "Who's this?"
Itachi let go of me as if burned.
"I'm his friend!" I said.
"She's my family," Itachi said tightly.
We stopped and tried again.
"I'm his family!"
"She's my friend."
Itachi sealed his lips.
"Uchiha Ayae," I introduced myself, going on tip-toes. "Are you also Itachi's friend?"
Before the man could respond, Itachi said flatly, "No."
I jumped, surprised to hear Itachi speak so rudely. Even his eyes looked a bit cold.
"Just a colleague. Mr. Hatake and I share occasional assignments," Itachi said.
My eyes widened. That was right. Itachi was very high-ranking. It made sense that his teammates were all much older and adult. Come to think of it, I had never met anyone from Itachi's work.
"How long have you known Itachi, Mr. Hatake?" I asked, curious.
"Eh, not too long, not too short," Mr. Hatake said vaguely. He seemed curious of me too, going so far as to crouch down. "What a cute teapot, not at all what you'd expect," he hummed, smiling. "Is this event your idea?"
I shook my head. "Oh, no, no. It's Tamaki's. I'm just helping."
"Tamaki?"
"My friend!"
Mr. Hatake seemed even more curious. He had a lot of questions, all of which I dutifully answered. Whenever I tried to ask questions, however, I never got any answers back. He was too good at avoiding them, as slippery as wet soap. I didn't know anything more about him than I did at the beginning of our talk!
Finally, I had enough, so I said very directly, "Mr. Hatake, can I ask you one question?"
"You may ask anything," he said, smiling.
I smiled back, a vein in my temple. Of course I could ask anything; it didn't mean he would answer!
Serious, I asked, "Why doesn't Itachi like you?"
Both Mr. Hatake and Itachi froze. They had not expected me to ask that.
Mr. Hatake was so off guard, he forgot to not-answer. He looked thoughtful.
"Hm, I would assume Itachi doesn't like many people."
"Wrong."
He blinked.
"Itachi likes people very easily, even people who are mean to him," I said, frowning. I waited for him to try again.
Mr. Hatake was silent for a long time.
"Is that so," he finally said, his voice suddenly as flat as Itachi's had been. His tone was no longer friendly. But it was not unfriendly either, because he still asked, "What do you think is the reason then?"
It was the first question that didn't feel like it belonged on a paper test. Like if I answered, he would have a reaction other than the same hum and blank smile. Like if I answered, he might actually be interested in what I say.
What a strange person.
I thought hard.
"I think it's because you don't answer."
"I don't answer?"
"You're not letting me know anything about you. To be friends, it's not enough you know me, I need to know something about you too."
"What do you want to know?"
"What's your favorite food?"
"Sanma shioyaki."
Itachi's eyes flew to Mr. Hatake, staring hard.
"Really?! My friend's mom works at a place that sells it super cheap! All fish are discounted on Fridays, and they'll serve it with rice and miso too if you get the ready-to-eat box."
Mr. Hatake's expression changed again, from dazed to serious. "What kind of miso?"
I grinned.
At the end of our conversation, I decided that Mr. Hatake, strange as he was, was not too bad after all.
To Itachi, I was about to say something. Then I changed my mind, deciding if Itachi didn't want to tell me, he didn't have to.
Itachi answered me anyway.
"I don't dislike him," he whispered. "I apologize for my reaction. I…"
I leaned in, waiting.
"I don't interact with colleagues off-duty. Seeing him here had confused me."
I frowned. My gaze went over to Mr. Hatake and the green mister. Their friend in the spiky ponytail joined, waving a skewer of sweets.
"Do you want to make friends with them?" I asked.
Itachi was quiet.
"I was hoping to be with more people my age," he confessed.
I straightened. Well, it was decided then! I was no wish-granting kettle, but I was one hell of a teapot. Whatever the guests wanted, I was going to do my best to make happen.
Fulfilling Itachi's request was super easy, the easiest of the night. We caught Setsu, who had just finished closing up the front table. Setsu introduced him to Reina, who went wide-eyed and immediately dropped all her props. Reina looked like she was internally screaming but controlled herself. She stopped her friends, who stopped theirs.
Very soon, Itachi had a very big crowd around him.
All everyone needed was someone to begin talking to see Itachi wasn't scary at all.
He was no sword, but another kid like us.
Pleased, I left to continue my shift.
I spent most of my remaining time in the Tea Room, where many of the adults relaxed.
I was serving Mrs. Nakamura when I noticed who was sitting at the table by the window. It was Tamaki's mom, a teacup at her lips. By herself, she was looking through the glass, but it was too dark to see anything except her reflection.
A man approached the chair across from her.
"Mrs. Kobayashi?"
He was a lean man, very well groomed and dressed.
"Ueda Atsushi," he introduced.
Tamaki's mom lowered her teacup. "Ueda… of Ueda Corporation. Are you little Sayuri's father?"
"Grandfather."
"Oh, pardon me. You look very young."
Mr. Ueda gave a wrinkled smile.
"I am a huge fan of your husband's work," he said, sitting down. "It's been nearly a decade, do you know when we might expect his next release?"
Tamaki's mom returned a tight smile. "He is still on hiatus, recovering from an old accident."
Mr. Ueda's eyes widened. He relaxed, seeming to understand. "Accidents are unfortunately common. It's the youngest ones who are hit the hardest. When Sayuri's father passed…" He shook his head. "School is good for our children. When pieces go missing, they can find kin in each other."
"Friendship is important," Tamaki's mom agreed, turning her teacup. "With it, even the meek can become invincible. Without it, even the invincible can become meek."
A tap brought my attention back. It was Kumiko. She warned me that the second part of the play was reaching the end. I jumped and excused myself from Mrs. Nakamura.
When I arrived at the Living Room, Yuuka was laughing evilly on stage.
"You imbeciles! All of you fell right into my trap! Why did you think I took them, if not to lure you here, knowing you'd come to recover them. Well congratulations, here are your precious possessions. However..." Yuuka stepped up, grinning madly. "What is hair to a crone... a slipper to a cripple... a rose to a beauty…" She stopped before Masae, tilting her head. "...and a crown to a beast?"
Mimi pulled Yuuka by the sleeve. "Tell us what you mean, you wicked magician!"
Yuuka smiled darkly. "Unless true love is found by the strike of nine, hope not shed these disguises of thine, for that is your lesson for judging by face, for accepting the roles others embrace." To the audience, "And you, to what extent can you see, the love needed to set these fools free? For if you indeed cannot see, then neither are you ever free."
The curtain dropped.
The actors bowed out and the lights brightened. Tamaki hopped on stage. Despite looking very tired, she put on a big smile.
"I want to use this time to say, thank you everyone for coming to our school's fall fundraiser. Your support is very important to our education. Before we conclude our play, we have one final challenge. Whoever can figure out Burakku Majishan's riddle and guess the ending will get one of our special mystery prizes. Please feel free to talk to any of our characters or special helpers for as many clues as you need. Thank you again!" She bowed.
Murmurs erupted.
We students came passing papers and pencils to all the guests. Naruto and Hana's little brother grabbed a paper from me. The two little girls from the flower shop also took a paper and read it.
'Who must Beauty learn to love?'
"Beast!" the blonde girl said, already writing the answer down. Her friend with the bow nodded in agreement.
"Wait, we should be specific."
Her friend nodded again. "Not the beast, but the crowned prince."
"Yes, she has to love his true self!" the blonde girl agreed, writing that down too.
They smiled cutely at each other, decided.
Naruto and Hana's brother had a different question.
'Who must Beast learn to love?'
The two boys did not agree as easily.
"It's Beauty," Hana's brother said.
"No, that's way too obvious. It's a trick question!" Naruto exclaimed.
Hana's brother looked confused. "Then who is it?"
Naruto looked around, before squatting closer and leaning in. "Burakku Majishan."
"..."
"..."
"WHAT KIND OF DUMB ANSWER IS THAT?"
"You're dumb!"
"Your FACE is dumb!"
They wrestled on the floor, fighting over the pencil.
"Okay, hear me out," Naruto hissed. "Burakku Majishan pranks princey… because he likes him!"
Before Hana's brother could object, Naruto continued, "Why would he take his crown just to let him have it back? He's the most powerful awesome magician ever. He doesn't need a crown. He even said it himself, he lured princey into his castle. He hopes that by spending time together, princey will like him too. And they did have a great time, didn't they? They had fun. But princey ended up liking someone else." Naruto pouted. "Someone who doesn't even like him for his true self. If princey could only love Burakku Majishan, then I'm sure everyone would be happy..."
Hana's brother closed his mouth. He thought it over. He frowned.
Then:
"Still dumb!"
"Your mom's dumb!"
"Dumb dumb!"
"Dumb dumb times one hundred!"
Sweating, I stepped aside when they rolled my way.
I noticed Ms. Hyuuga's niece standing shyly away. She was so small and quiet, I almost missed her.
"Would you like to try?" I asked, handing her a paper.
She read it.
'Who has Burakku Majishan learned to love?'
She jolted, her eyes flashing up to the screaming boys, then to me. "Ah-!"
I put a finger against my lips and smiled.
The riddles were hard. Not everyone had gotten theirs right. Michio complained that the riddles were as evil as the magician himself.
One by one, we began collecting the answers. When Itachi handed me his, he said, "I thought I had until midnight. You've changed the story."
I stuck out my tongue. "Sorry, Itachi, no cheating for you. Even if you read the book, you will still have to figure it out like everyone else."
Giggling, I snatched his paper.
As I walked away, I unfolded his paper, very sure that his answer was correct.
I fell quiet.
It was blank.
.
The clock struck. Masae fell to her knees.
"I recognize you now and I recognize you true, the princess of the night and ruler of the moon. How blind had I been to not see, my one friend staring back at me."
Yuuka softened.
"How can I shun a love I have never received, had it not been my love you shunned, when you closed your door to me?
"Appearances are deceiving but how could appearance deceive, unless you assume all one is, is all that is perceived.
"Define by the external, and the external will define you, who you are and what you deserve, where you belong and how you serve. Lost is all your power since birth, when you let a crown decide your status, and a face decide your worth."
Leaning down, Yuuka pulled off the prince's beast mask. "Up my foolish friends, there never was an enchantment to fear." Yuuka gently pulled off Mimi's beauty mask. "But the curse, the curse you have a lifetime to clear."
Everyone else on stage removed their masks too.
One by one, Yuuka returned everyone's possessions. For some, it was their hair. For others, it was their crown. A shell. A slipper. A sword. A veil.
"When blind to the eyes and deaf to the ear, only then can the mind see and the heart hear. May one day you learn to love yourself and love yourself true."
Finally, Yuuka reached Mimi. Smiling, Yuuka returned her rose. "And on that day, may you come to love me too."
.
The fundraiser was a success. The play ended with all the actors taking a bow. Yuuka got the biggest round of applause.
I and the other helpers handed out the prizes to the winners. Despite all the questions being different, the correct answer had been the same. 'Themselves.'
The green mister jumped on his chair when he learned he had won one of the prizes. He cried with joy.
My dad won one too. It was a tin box with many candies and sweets inside. He shared them with all the kids.
When I handed Michio his box, Itachi and I did not look at each other, too embarrassed. Thankfully, Shisui failed too. Shisui and his loud presence made things less awkward.
Itachi knew I expected him to solve the riddle. He must have felt bad for disappointing me.
As with the play, our own Enchanted Castle closed at nine o'clock. The original book might have been midnight, but for us, it was still a school night!
Many of the younger kids were sleepy, and Naruto had already fallen asleep on my dad's shoulder, lollipop still in hand. One by one, we bowed to the leaving guests, thanking them for coming.
Being part of the crew, I stayed behind to help with clean up. Itachi stayed behind to help too, giving me a hand in disassembling the stage and clearing all the decorations.
As I wheeled some leftover props to the supply closet, I noticed Tamaki had fallen asleep in front of it, still holding a clipboard.
My shoulders lowered. Tamaki had pulled many long nights to make this day special.
I piggybacked her down the stairs and down a few halls before finding her mom. She had been waiting alone, by the main school entrance.
Her mom looked relieved seeing us.
"Thank you, Ayae," she said, taking Tamaki into her arms. "She's very lucky to have you."
"I'm very lucky to have her too."
Tamaki's mom gave a polite smile. They left.
Soon the school was empty. I was the only one left. Well, me and Itachi. He was still with me, doing the parts I couldn't. He was a very good friend for staying.
We were on our very last wing when I found myself getting awfully sleepy too, barely able to hold my broom. I looked at the clock and saw why. It was almost midnight!
"Done!" I finally cried, collapsed on the floor.
Despite everything all cleaned up, it was also a little sad. The enchantment was truly over. The building was just a normal school building again.
To my surprise, Itachi didn't think so. He thought the school was enchanting even without the decoration. The building was very cozy and the students very warm. He pulled down his shirt sleeves, smiling faintly at the fabric.
He thanked me for inviting him. Even if it was just a day, he really did feel teleported to another world.
I smiled, remembering to pass along the compliment to the other students. Itachi, who travelled everywhere from Wind to Snow, from River to Lightning, still thought he had seen something new, something fun. My eyes drooped.
In the back of my mind, I was aware Itachi had brought me back home to bed.
"Wait…" I murmured against my pillow.
Itachi stopped at the door.
"In my costume..."
He checked the inside pockets and pulled out a tin box.
"I didn't get the answer," he whispered, not sure why I wanted him to take it out.
"But I did."
Someone as smart as Itachi, no way he wouldn't figure it out next time.
Until he won his own box, we'd share mine.
