"Hide's POV"
I don't know what the principal is thinking, but having a theatre with only two weeks to prepare is a bit too sudden and because of this I have a lot more to deal with.
Michelle is definitely up to something, it's obvious because she won't stop looking at me, she would probably do anything to get what she wants. Other than that there's also Kaze, I accidentally made eye contact with him. I don't know about him but he seems pissed, he probably doesn't like the idea of being in the same space with me because of our recent encounter and everyone else is avoiding and keeping a distance from him. I'm assuming his sudden appearance has something to do with the punishment he mentioned a while ago after being suspended, part of the reason why he is being forced to be a part of this.
Normally I wouldn't pry into things, but I am curious. Something must've happened and it could have led to expulsion. Our principal Mister Beckket is known to be very generous and forgiving, however, it's why the vice principal Miss Kandelavra, does not like how he manages the school and its students. Our principal believes in positive reinforcement rather than harsh dictatorship.
"Okay! Now that everyone is here we shall now decide who gets to be the main characters!" Miss Lorraine twirled excitedly. I keep wondering why she does that, but she's clearly way more excited than us. I took a look over the script and there are five main characters to the story. The prince, the knight in shining armor, the beast hunter, the maiden in distress or basically the princess, and the evil king.
"I think the play is meant to be a romantic comedy," Arum muttered rummaging through the pages.
"I don't really care what role I get, it looks really interesting!" Raihen told excitedly with a grin.
"Hoh? I bet it'd be great if I was prince charming," Garren said posing in a mirror held in his hand.
"There he goes again," Jesskah rolled her eyes.
"Miss Lorraine! I would like to volunteer myself as the director!" Marui stands up raising his hand. Miss Lorraine immediately gives him a thumbs up.
"Approved!" She gestured. Because of this, the whole class riled up all sudden.
"Wait, who gave you the right to say that?" Reol protested.
"Pshh... Let him be Reol," Kayden told. He raises his legs on his own desk while placing his hands at the back of his head laid back.
"Well I think someone should be the director, I think I'm best suited for it," Marui implied raising an eyebrow while adjusting his eyeglasses.
"Can I be the prince? I think Jesskah should be my princess," Allen butted in.
"Heaven's no, I'll never be a princess," Jesskah scoffs with a disgusted look on her face.
"If anyone should be the princess, then it should be me! I'm already a princess! There's no other role for me! I'm perfect!" Michelle boasted. She attempted an elegant poise, arms stretched, fingers pointing outwards while raising her chin.
"Nobody asked for your fucking opinion, why don't you just become a bitch? Oh, wait. You already are one," Kaze suddenly interrupted. Michelle gasped in horror as a response.
"Ooh! Burn!" Kayden hooted.
"Fuck you, you're annoying," Kaze insulted back. Kayden who became frightened decided to shut his mouth.
"I can't believe we're in the same room with this delinquent," Arum complained secretly pointing toward Kaze from behind.
"Let's not," I warned. A
I know a theatre is definitely a good idea to promote the school, but I have to digress. Why does it have to be our class? It's these kinds of events that I find really troublesome and there's nothing I can do about it, sometimes in life, you just have to suck it up. Miss Lorraine grabs hold of everyone's attention by clapping her hands.
"Alright, class! We should all get started, who do you think should play as the prince?" The professor asked. Her eyes dart towards the whole class with awe and excitement. Jesskah suddenly raises her hand and Miss Lorraine gestured her to stand.
"I think Hide should be the prince!" Jesskah announced. She smiled and made eye contact with me, I do not know why, but I'm sure I definitely did nothing to deserve this, I'd rather choose to play as a side character. I sighed in disappointment.
"Does anyone object?" Miss Lorraine asked.
"I object," I immediately stood. "I do not wish to play the role of a prince, I think there are other people who are more suited for it," I protested. If I have a chance to turn the tables then it is now. It's my only opportunity.
"I don't know, now that I think of it, I don't mind handing over that role to you," Garren told holding his chin in deep thought.
"I think you should definitely try it!" Arum cheered. Wow, even my best friend has turned against me.
"Why not? You're handsome, you might have the talent for it," Jesskah implied.
"Is anyone against this?" The professor asked the whole class once more, but none seem to respond. Everyone seems to agree with each other.
"It's decided! We now have our main protagonist!" Miss Lorraine officially announced. Everyone started clapping their hands to congratulate me, but I slam my own face into the books on my desk.
"Why..." I complained.
"It can't be that bad!" Arum attempted to console. Well, it's too late now. Prince Hide of Norville is here to save the day! How great.
Sometime later the whole class was able to assign the rest of the roles. Arum became the knight in Shining armor, Raihen became the beast hunter, and a random female classmate of ours was chosen to be the princess.
"Why don't I get to be princess?! I won't accept this!" Michelle whined as she ferociously approached the professor with her stomping heels.
"That's because nobody likes you, dear! Don't forget, you're in OUR class!" Jesskah laughed mockingly.
"I think I know the perfect role for you Michelle," Marui said looking through a page of the script. He makes eye contact with the rest of our other classmates and they also understood. Garren and Jesskah look at each other and nodded as if they read each other's thoughts.
"A slave," They both uttered in unison with smirks on their faces.
"Approved!" The professor quoted quickly.
"WHAAT?!" Michelle hysterically screamed. Her eyes widened in disbelief, she even almost scratched her face.
"Our class, our rules," Jesskah added sarcastically.
"We got one more main character. All that's left is the evil king," Marui told tapping his pen rapidly into the script in his hand.
"I don't think there's anyone suited to play that role," Allen muttered.
"Or isn't there?" Raihen raises an eyebrow. He leaned his back and points eyes toward Kaze and everyone trailed along. He had a bored expression on his face completely oblivious to everything around him. He laid his cheeks on the palms of his hands as he kept clicking and retracting a pen he is holding with his opposite hand repeatedly. He notices everyone looking at him after a while.
"W-What are you all fucking looking at?!" Kaze glared. Although he realized he was powerless at this point and is aware of what he vaguely heard.
"Hey, I ain't being part of this bullshit so keep me out of this," Kaze angrily threatened.
"He's perfect," Marui gleefully declared. Kaze cussed in disbelief.
"What the fuck???"
After having a brief discussion about our play and the written piece, time easily flew by without us noticing and as the bell rang we were eventually dismissed. Apparently, I noticed something was weird with the script, but I realized that this isn't your typical classic kind of piece, it had elements that came from Romeo and Juliet mixed with the stories that came from fairy tales like Cinderella and Rapunzel. However that wasn't the only thing I noticed, I realized that the protagonist has to make the antagonist fall in love with him to conquer and save him from an evil spell. That's basically the gist of it, I wonder how would the audience take this? When I think about it since I'm the protagonist and Kaze is the antagonist. That means I have to tame him and make him cooperate right?
"Nope," I muttered. Impossible. The fact that Kaze sees me as a threat in real life makes it harder than it seems. It's kind of ironic. Sure, pair me up with the person who actually wants to kill me. Who knows what might happen?
"Hide, Raihen," Arum tapped our shoulders. "I'm going to hang out with Yvonne, you both go ahead without me," He told as if asking for permission but immediately he left without my consent. I sigh disappointed yet again, I can't believe it's happening again.
"So..." Raihen turned towards my direction his bag hanging in one hand at his back.
"It's just the two of us now," He smirked. I knew this would happen when Arum started another dating phase again. Now I have to be stuck with Raihen for the rest of the day.
This is not what I have in mind.
"Arum's POV"
I'm probably the luckiest guy alive, I finally think Yvonne and I have mutual feelings for each other. I could not think of a better way to describe it. Just me, and a warm fuzzy feeling inside my chest.
"Hey, captain quit daydreaming!" My clubmate Tohru yelled. He throws me a wet towel covered in his sweat landing on my face. It fell right over my right arm but I was too starstruck and I didn't care. Kuronoya sat beside me and took off his sweaty shirt. After a day of hard work and practice, we are all very exhausted, I am currently chillin' with my teammates in the locker rooms. Everyone is just so determined to win the interschool sports competition.
"You're in love again aren't you?" Kuronoya asked.
"Not this again," Tohru clicks his tongue and looks away in disappointment.
"I think I am," I smiled cheerfully.
"Arum, as the captain it's your responsibility to be a role model to everyone, don't get sidetracked," Tsugino advised. He grabs his backpack and stuffs his belongings inside it.
"Of course, of course. My teammates are just as important!" I motioned reassuringly while wiping my sweat with my own shirt. I am actually excited! I always was passionate when it comes to soccer. The competition is just a few days away and a few of us are still anxious because our coach isn't showing up.
"You sure you're in love with the right person?" Tohru genuinely asked.
"What do you mean?" I asked. I became puzzled with what he initially said. But instead of an answer, he clicks his tongue yet another time but even more annoyed than previously.
"Nothing, I'm going home," Tohru replied. After changing his shirt he immediately grabs his bag and aims towards the exit.
"Wait, hold on! You gotta tell me, man!" I halted and ran to grab his shoulder.
"You're unbelievably annoying today captain," Tohru gave me a disgusted look on his face.
"My bad," I immediately apologized and chuckled. It's either just him in a more bad mood than usual or I probably did something rude or anything to offend him during practice. I couldn't help but be concerned when it comes to my teammates. I know each of them very well and I am actually a very keen observer, Tohru is no exemption. He slowly turns towards me and took a deep sigh.
"You're still denying it," Tohru mentioned disappointedly.
"Denying what?" I asked. Prior to what he said, nothing really made sense to me and I was very confused. He takes a step forward closer to me and took another deep sigh.
"Your true feelings for Hide."
For a moment I couldn't react or process what he said. I was speechless. But after the sudden confusion, I was able to respond and voice out my thoughts.
"Huh? Feelings for Hide? What are you saying?" I hysterically laughed.
"What are you laughing at?" Tohru glared.
"Hide is my best friend, there's no way I can have feelings for him," I told politely and chuckled.
"Captain- No. Arum. Everyone here knows you always talk about him, do you really think I wouldn't realize?" Tohru elaborated. "Look, I'm gay, even I'm not stupid enough to be able to tell if another guy has feelings for me."
Wait, did he just confessed that he's gay?
"Hold on a sec," I paused for a few seconds. "You're-"
"NO, shut up," He immediately cuts off the sentence. "Don't say it out loud, I trust you," Tohru angrily whispered as he covered my mouth.
"Don't worry buddy, no matter what you are, we'll always accept you," Kuronoya teased as he encircles his arms around Tohru's neck.
"You heard- What-"
"Hey everyone! Tohru is gay!" Kuronoya announced.
"This is news, congrats buddy!" Tsugino clapped his hands. The others followed in applause.
"See?" Kuronoya gestured to the other members while ruffling Tohru's hair.
'I thought I knew about everyone,' I thought. I crossed my arms and pointed my finger to one of my cheeks as I looked upwards in deep thought. While Tohru is stuck in between Kuronoya's grasp, eventually, he finally lost his temper. That's when he hurled Kuronoya towards his back and slammed him on the floor. The poor guy yelped in pain. Now that's gonna hurt.
"I'm going fucking home," Tohru panted heavily. He wiped his face and sniffled. Is he actually... Crying?
"Wait! I'm sorry!" Kuronoya tried to reach out but is apparently too knocked out to even move.
"Go to hell!" Tohru shouted back and immediately rushed towards the exit.
"That wasn't a joke?" Sushi Maru confused.
"I don't think it was," Kaeru replied also bewildered from what just happened.
"This is bad," I anxiously muttered. As Tohru was about to leave, just before reaching the doorknob, the door opens by itself. We absolutely did not expect him to be here.
"Coach?!" Tohru gasped as his eyes widened in surprise.
"Coach Heifetz!" I called. After calling out his name the others also confirmed to check if it was really him. Tall, muscular, fair skinned, sharp eyes, a shaved beard, and a short black hair almost resembling an army cut. He's a man around his mid-thirties wearing a pair of jeans with an ordinary plain blue polo shirt yet you can practically see the shape of his body and how built he is, he also looks rather young for his age.
"Whoa, what's going on here? I've only been gone for a while! I heard yellin' from the outside! Y'all a big mess! And why is Tohru upset?" Coach Heifetz asked.
"I, uhm," Tohru stammered unable to speak and everyone is driven silent.
"Kuronoya did it, sir," Sho, our fellow clubmate told.
"H-Hey!" Kuronoya attempts to come up with a way to defend himself but fails to do so with guilt written all over his face. Coach Heifetz grabs a stool and sat on it.
"I don't know what happened, but I assume you all are working hard. The interschool sports competition is just around the corner," The coach scratches his chin inspecting each and everyone present in the club room. "First of all I would like to apologize for not being with you boys lately, you know I deeply care for each and every one of you right?"
"Yes, sir! We are all very aware of that! Although can you give us an explanation? I've been trying to contact you for ages!" I politely demanded. Being the captain of the club is no easy feat, it also means shouldering all of the responsibilities, thankfully I have Tsugino to assist me along with my fellow seniors, Kuronoya and Tohru especially are always there to back me up.
"Ugh," Coach Heifetz shrugged. He seemed to be bothered. "You see, I had been forced by the principal to be a private tutor for a special kind of student, so I'm pretty much backed into a corner. If I don't oblige or do well, I might end up losing my entire teaching career," He explained.
"But worry not! I promise you that I'll be with you from today and onward until the interschool competition! I had to convince the principal because I did not want to abandon my duties as a coach," Coach Heifetz reassured. He stands up and gives me a pat on the shoulder. It usually means it's my queue to say something and give my own opinion.
"I think we should all set our differences aside. Alone we are powerless, but together we are stronger, so let's all put our hearts together!" I told confidently as an attempt to inspire. It's my duty as the captain to lead the team and make sure no one gets left behind. With the coach around, victory is assured. The rest of my team smiled and nodded.
"I agree," Tsugino said crossing his arms impressed.
"Tohru," I suddenly called.
"What?" He nervously asked yet keeping his usual stern face.
"You are one of us, what you are does not concern me," I told assuringly with a smile. He just looked at me slightly like a clueless baby not knowing what to say, I guess he can be vulnerable sometimes. I've always wondered how long he can keep his walls up, he's the type of person who usually hides everything about himself and he barely opens up to anyone.
"Isn't it right everyone?" I asked. They all nodded and smiled again in response.
"It's nothing to worry about," Tsugino told.
"Your secret is safe with us," Sushi Maru also added.
"Kuronoya?" I called. I glared towards Kuronoya who was hiding in between Sho and Sushi Maru.
"Y-Yes?" He anxiously asked trying to avoid eye contact.
"Hm?" I threatened with another glare. Kuronoya shivers in fear.
"Okay! I feel bad for what I did, and I never should've done that, I'm really sorry Tohru," He immediately apologized. Looks like we got the cat out of the bag.
"Tohru?" I called and turn towards Tohru.
"It's fine. Fuck you, you're stupid. And the rest of you are all very annoying to deal with," Tohru sarcastically remarked while looking away.
"I guess he's back to the same usual Tohru," Tsugino chuckled, the second time impressed.
"It's better that way," I grinned proudly.
"Alright boys, I'll see you all tomorrow! You all are free to go!" Coach Heifetz gestured as he dismissed everyone and left immediately. Everyone else picked up their things and started leaving as well. I finished changing my own shirt and was picking up my own belongings until someone decided to call my attention.
"Arum," Tohru spoke.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"I don't know what to say, but let's just say... I must be extremely lucky to fall in the hands of such good friends," He shyly told.
"Don't worry about it," I pat his shoulder.
"Anyways, please forget I said that. I still hate you all," He told before he immediately left, that guy sure was something. Now I was the only one left in the locker rooms and I should be locking up the place very soon. I pull out the phone in my bag to see a bundle of new messages. They're all from Yvonne. Being the simple kind of guy, getting a lot of messages from a girl made me really happy.
'Thanks for hanging out with me today, we should chill again sometime.'
'I really enjoyed your companionship, I feel like we've gotten more
.. Attached. Feels weird huh?'
'I look forward to getting to know you better, dinner date on Friday night?'
Oh wow, she asked me out herself, how could I say no? This is my chance to impress her even more. I was about to reply but before I could, I noticed another message. It was from Hide.
'Come home soon, I'm making steak for dinner, it's your favorite.'
I immediately forgot about Yvonne's text messages and I quickly typed in to reply.
'I'll be home ASAP!'
How can I resist? Hide's the best! Although I'm assuming Raihen would be also there to assist him, and that's fine too! At least he doesn't have to do the work all by himself.
Suddenly I am struck by the words told to me by Tohru and I end up staring at nowhere and my thoughts ran deep again. He sure has a way with words, I remember last time he told me that Raihen might steal my best friend and today he tells me that I might be in love with the wrong person and that I'm denying my feelings for Hide. That's just ridiculous, I think Tohru has been watching too many dramas lately.
I don't think I can fall in love with my very own best friend, I know I was born heterosexual and I don't think I can bring myself to like someone who has been extremely close to me since childhood, didn't they say that liking your own best friend is a curse? I already feel stressed out thinking I have to deal with my studies, the theatre, and the interschool sports competition. Wait, this isn't like me at all! I shouldn't be having deep thoughts like this! I brushed my thoughts away and excitedly head home. Steak! Here I come!
I rode my bicycle home and hummed a melody as I paddle my way through the peaceful streets. I can't wait for the day to finally end and finally rest at home. The sun was already setting yet its usually this time of the day where people are most abundant. It's certainly still peaceful but not as peaceful as Norville, I got used to the scenery around me here in the main capital and there were way fewer people in Norville. It didn't take long until I was able to reach home. I parked my bike into our mini garage at the back and then went back to the main entrance, I reached my hand through the doorknob and twist the door open. I entered the house and closed the door behind me then took off my shoes and continued walking in.
"I'm home!" I greeted. When I heard Hide and Raihen's voice, that's when my eyes could not unsee what I am seeing. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped, the bag I was carrying slid off my arms then fell onto the floor. Words could not describe how I feel right now when I saw them both lying on the couch.
Sooo... They're both naked...
Together?