So I just found out that you don't capitalize the Japanese honorifics of a person in a sentence. My apologies! So from here on, I won't make that mistake.
Sixty-Third Spell: Understudy
"What do you mean?" Rui demanded, squeezing herself between Haru and Nayu. "I thought any First-Year Secondary Student could participate in the tryouts. Why are you excluding Nayu and Haru in particular?"
"It's not just them, but also Fumito-kun," Gōgu-dono clarified. "The reason I'm excluding them is because they aren't in Flying Class, which is the basic requirement for playing Quidditch in general."
"But…isn't this an exceptional situation?" Nayu's eyes started to water. "Are you saying we're not worthy of representing our school?"
"No, I'm not saying that," Gōgu-dono sighed. "But since you, Ryuji, and Fumito only had one lesson of Flying Class, it would be too risky to have you play Quidditch, which can get rough and very dangerous if you're not careful."
Nayu lowered her head. "I understand, Gōgu-dono."
Then as Nayu walked away with her head buried in her hands, Haru and Rui followed her.
"Leave me alone!" Nayu cried. "I don't need your pity!"
"Nayu, we're not pitying you," Haru insisted. "We just want to make sure you're okay."
"I can't do anything right," muttered Nayu as she knelt on the wet grass. "My grandmother would be disappointed if she were still alive…."
"Your grandmother?" Rui was perplexed. "Did she die?"
Reluctantly, Nayu nodded. "She was killed by Warumo-uragi before I was born, and my grandfather Akai constantly mourns her loss. My parents have thought about putting him in the Kakusan Hospital for his own sanity, but I keep telling them not to. If I lose him, I don't know what I'll do…."
"But what does this have to do with the Quidditch tryouts?"
"I spoke to my grandmother's spirit during Obon, and I promised her I would do my best on whatever I set my mind to. But now I don't know if I can keep that promise!"
"You didn't do anything wrong," Rui insisted as she kneeled in front of Nayu, who was crying into the grass. "Gōgu decided not to let you participate in the tryouts, not you! And just because you made a promise to your grandmother's ghost doesn't mean you should agonize about it. Right, Haru?"
"Uh, yeah," Haru said, touching his cold shoulder in embarrassment.
"Now let's get inside and have some snacks in the library to calm you down," Rui suggested, helping Nayu to her feet. "I think there's some rice crackers left in the basket next to the Bunbuku Chagama kettle."
While Nayu remained silent, Rui escorted her back to the outer wall of the school castle while Haru decided to stay and watch the tryouts from the seats along the cove. To his amusement, Koi and Gumo were among the first to fail. But Daizō and Hikari passed with flying colors, along with Cheng, Sumi, a female Genbu student named Juna Fuyuki, a Philippine boy named Driyo Tore who was in the Byakko Clan, and another male Seiryu student named Mutsumi Bōtei.
"This sucks!" Otoma bemoaned as Haru showed up at the school theater a few days after the Quidditch tryouts.
"What is it?" Haru asked.
"Because of the whole exhibition match thing, some of our cast members have temporarily left," Otoma said. "This includes Genma and Akaji, who's been picked for the opposing team since he's the best Chaser for the Byakko Quidditch Team."
"Did they have important roles?"
"Of course they did! Genma was going to play the part of Tsunade, so I'll have to get Kishi-chan to be her understudy. I'm also going to have to get an understudy for Akaji, who was going to play Orochimaru."
"I don't get it. What's an understudy?"
"An understudy rehearses the same lines as the main actor just in case the main actor can't make it to the performance and the understudy has to take their place."
"That sounds like a lot of work."
"It is, and we don't have a lot of time to get the understudies up to speed before our first performance this Friday."
Just then, Reika Kishi and Muni Māru arrived. So Otoma explained the situation to them, and while Kishi was willing to be Hikari's understudy Muni wasn't too sure about being Akaji Juro's.
"I've always worked backstage since I'm not very good at memorizing lines," Muni said nervously. "But I suppose if I have to—
"Hold it!" said Haru, interrupting Muni. "What if Māru and I switched places? He could control the puppets for me while I become Juro's understudy."
"But it would completely defeat the purpose of why I needed you in the first place!" Otoma whined. "You blend into the background so well with your unassuming presence that I thought you would be perfect for being our puppeteer."
"You know, Wan, Ryuji could make for a good Orochimaru," Kishi said. "With the right makeup and clothes, he might be able to look kind of creepy. And given his heritage—
"What does my heritage got to do with it?" Haru didn't like what Kishi was insinuating.
"I'm just saying it'll add to the intimidating aspect of Orochimaru's character," Kishi responded. "But it's just a suggestion."
Otoma scratched her head with the tip of her harisen fan. "I wouldn't want to make Ryuji do something he doesn't want to do, but the same is true of Māru-kun…. Ugh, what do I do?"
"Didn't you say you needed my help when we first met?" Haru said.
"I did," Otoma recalled.
"Then it doesn't matter what my original role is. Because if it'll help you for me to be Juro's understudy, I'll do it."
For a moment, Otoma was silent as she knelt on the stage. Then she slammed her harisen fan on the floor of the stage, causing a resonating echo throughout the theater.
"All right, Haru," Otoma said. "If you think you've got what it takes to be an understudy, then I won't stop you. But don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it. After all, we members of the Mabuki Theater Club are like family."
Hearing the word 'family,' Haru felt both touched but also remorseful. Though he hid his remote with a big smile.
To be continued…
