Harue was shocked by Paro's words. He was thinking about why Paro reached such a decision in her mind?
Did someone influence her, did Rina's performance instil doubt in her or was it something more complicated?
"....What makes you think about that?"
For the moment, Harue tried to assess the situation from different kinds of angles. After all, he cannot just look at the problem from just one perspective.
He waited for the perturbed Paro to stand her ground.
She looked disturbed and did not know how to start her explanation. Eventually, she gave Harue a rough idea of what has been going on in her mind.
"I don't think that Rina...is going to be able to keep up with the other's acting performance."
".....? Seriously, since when did you care about that?"
Paro was shocked at Harue but also couldn't argue back at him. He had a point. She wasn't like this before.
In the past, although someone was not having great progress in this club, she would shrug off the matter and tell them to work hard.
She said so because she always believed in every single club member.
There was no place for any doubt.
Yet what happened now?
Why is Paro thinking about doing the unthinkable? Harue deduced that she could not have thought of this by herself.
He knew her to that extent.
There was only one option that he concluded. Someone else instigated Paro to think like that and already, Harue had someone in mind.
"*Sigh*.....See Paro-san, come and sit here and cool your head."
"H-Huh?"
Harue led Paro to one of the many seats and made her arrange her mind orderly for a proper explanation.
"So, elaborate."
Paro gulped some saliva and proceeded to explain her decision.
"Harue-kun, listen.....It is our last year in this school. It probably is the last year that we are going to be together."
She cast her glance downwards with a depressing aura.
"The thing is, I want the Drama Club to be able to fulfil what our seniors couldn't do."
Harue only listened to her attentively and she continued.
"I want to carry out what they wanted. Win this big competition. I know it is not easy for me to say it so casually and I know that I am not going to be able to do it without all the member's support. But..."
Paro met eye to eye with Harue. She let out her opinion and for her, it felt like the burden alleviated a little.
She thought that it was selfish to share her problems with Harue so that he would also be involved in solving them.
However, Harue did not receive Paro's problem like that.
"I want to make sure that this year would be memorable and successful."
Paro made clear her objectives. All was in front of Harue, the last thing that has to be done is address this trouble.
The unperturbed Harue calmly looked at Paro's determined eyes. She was not joking about taking over the Drama competition.
Nevertheless, that feat is on a thorny road but not unsurmountable.
Harue clarified, "Paro-san, let me understand this. You want to win this competition but you do not want to rely on Rina's help."
"That's a rather crude way to say that. I did not mean to say that I don't want Rina's help. It is just that, i.....think that Rina is not up to that level."
"You are saying that Rina is not ready?"
"...Basically...Yeah...."
Harue leaned back to his seat and relaxed. He thought to himself that Paro was never like this.
He wanted to get to the root of it.
"Did someone tell you anything about Rina?"
"....." She averted her eyes.
"......Who is it?"
Paro did not know if she have to disclose that person's name. There could be repercussions like a bad relationship between Harue and that person.
After a slight pause, Paro decided to reveal the name.
"It was... Kagome-san."
'As expected.' Harue predicted it. 'Seriously, what is her problem?'
"Harue-kun, don't criticize Kagome-san. It was me who brought up the matter about Rina. I admit that Kagome-san notified me about her performance but I thought about making Rina-san quit."
Paro lied about the part that Kagome did not at all recommend Rina to be kicked out of the club. Paro did not want there to be any bad blood between Harue and Kagome.
Hearing Paro's reasoning, Harue sighed. He looked at Kagome was practising with the others.
Then, he observed Rina who was working hard with the rest. Lastly, he retracted his gaze and focused on Paro's worried face.
"Paro-san, I am going to tell you that this is a bad idea and I am going to tell you why."
Paro kind of anticipated Harue's answer to be no. She inhaled a big portion of air and exhaled smoothly.
Her mind soothed a little bit and was prepared to pay attention to Harue.
"Go on."
"First of all, if we kick Rina-san out of this club, who is going to replace her? At this time, it is going to be difficult to look for any new members. We are already short on acting members and we have seen that in our previous performance. Fujita-kun played two roles in the same drama."
Paro did not think that far.
She only focused on Rina's expulsion from this club and completely forgot about the holes it would create.
"Secondly, there are hardly any other freshmen and sophomores that could get even near Rina's level. Did you see how she adapted quickly to Seita's improvised act?"
Even though Kagome said that Seita was the one who guided Rina, it was true but the rest of it was Rina's skill and abilities.
Others would crumble under pressure after that fall but Rina decided to continue with Seita.
That was remarkable in itself.
"What I am trying to say here is that Rina staying is our safest and best bet that we have. Do you agree?"
Paro nodded after hearing Harue's rational thinking.
"Besides, as the President of the Drama Club, aren't you forgetting one of our most important rules."
Paro slowly opened her eyes widely, realizing what Harue had just reminded her of.
The corner of his lips raised as the memory came back to her.
Yes, that is one rule that our seniors left behind, other than their desire of winning the competition.
"Let's enjoy ourselves."
Paro blurted it out herself.
Harue looked at Paro like he comprehended her trait. He did not hide his mischievousness. He jokingly stated.
"Hishimi-san was totally right. You are clumsy and forgetful."
"Wha-.....?"
Well, she neither could rebuke him nor did she want to argue.
She retracted the words stuck in her throat and replaced them with gratitude instead.
"...Thank you, Harue-kun. My mind is clear now."
"Get a grip Paro-san, you are the Club President. If you show any signs of anxiousness then all the club members will not be performing at their best."
She put on a reassuring smile and replied confidently,
"Leave that to me."
Before she could stand up and do her part of the work, Harue told Paro a reminder that she should not ignore.
"Don't forget how Rina-san is working hard."
She looked back to him and said,
"That would be preposterous."
"You get it."
Harue watched on as Paro's determined back went further away from him.
The smile that Harue had slowly faded away. The glance tardily focused on Kagome. She was now using a towel and swept the sweat flowing down her face and neck.
His eyes changed to indifference.
The amount of practice was shown through her sweats but Harue ignored all of that and decided to let out a small weight that was stuck in his teeth.
"Fucking Nobles."
.........
"You did well, considering that it is your first tournament."
Captain Jirou cheered Eiji as he came off the podium with a defeated expression.
"Thank you very much." Eiji exp7hressed his gratitude.
Jirou patted his shoulders and told him to wait with the other club members.
"That was good."
"I did not think you were that good, Eiji-kun."
Small praises from the other members lifted Eiji's mood and it brought a smile to his face.
The training that he did with this club had shown some progress. He remembered the day that he got saved by Kana from some delinquents.
The first encounter between the Kana and Eiji.
It hasn't been long since they met but Eiji was glad that he made her acquaintance.
He approached near Kana and stood with her. There was a small silence between the two until Kana broke it.
"That was weak."
"As expected from you..." Eiji anticipated her lack of encouragement but still, he did not hold her in contempt.
Instead, he had a thin smile.
"You have got a long way to go."
"I know that for sure."
"Oh well, I suppose this kind of little achievement is overwhelming for a puny amateur like you. Who would have thought that you would win against your first opponent."
"I was surprised as well." Eiji scratched his nose as his cheeks blushed. He took Kana's words as praise.
Maybe everyone was astonished to see the outcome of Eiji's first match.
He was able to win against his opponent by a 2 point difference. Pretty impressive for a newbie like him.
However, his next match was completely dominated by his next opponent. In the end, he did not even land a single point during the whole round.
That's how good his opponent was.
Eiji still has a very long road in front of him.
After a few matches, most of the freshmen like Eiji won a few rounds but could not qualify for the next upper rounds, well except for Kana who displayed marvellous skills on the........
Her club member knew she was strong but it still was unbelievable that this girl was surpassed every other competitor so easily.
She caught the eye of many people and they saw the potential surging in her.
Soon, she would be bombarded with many opportunities effortlessly.
All the club members applauded her performance. Eiji was slowly clapping because he was pondering on her strength.
'Someday, I will surpass her.'
Whether that was a plausible thought or not, it was up to Eiji to decide.
.........
It was late in the afternoon and Kana opened the door to her house. What greeted her was the arguing noise of two best friends.
"You just confess to her already."
"You know that I cannot just 'go for it! Everyone has their own pace for this kind of thing."
"What if she has a different pace than yours and then someone else might take her."
"Come on don't say that!"
"Take action before it's too late."
Kana took off her shoes and threw them uncaringly in the corner. She entered the living room and saw his brother Harue and his best friend Kouki.
The two people who she is annoyed with the most.
"Ah, Kana-chan. Welcome back."
"Welcome back." Harue followed after Kouki."
Kana glanced at Kouki and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Well, you should ask that your brother."
Both Kouki and Kana looked at Harue, who was behind the kitchen counter. He had the usual apron and the steam behind him was from the pressure cooker.
Kana also noticed that and asked him through her eyes.
"I'm just giving Kouki some. I prepared a bit too much ingredient."
".....is that so....."
She was uninterested quickly as she laid her body on the sofa. The remote was next to her so she grabbed it and turned on the T.V.
"Kana, go wash before sitting down."
"Oh shut up..."
Harue could not do anything about her. She knew that she would not budge from there after a while so he let him be.
Kouki observed those two and whispered to Harue.
"You are too lenient on her."
"That's just how she is."
Harue gently smiled as he got back to his cooking. Kouki intently stared at his back as he also watched over Kana.
He decided to tease her for making Harue a pushover.
"Right, how was your date with Eiji, I mean competition."
Harue veered quickly to Kouki, not knowing if Kana had a boyfriend.
Kana slowly turned her back to Kouki and warned him with intense blood lust.
"Do you want me to kill you?"
"Wow, Scary~" Kouki jokingly reacted to her bloodshot glare.
To make matters worse, Harue intruded.
"Kana, you have a boyfriend? You did not tell me!"
"Oh just shut up! He is NOT my boyfriend!"
"Then why did Kouki say that?"
"He is obviously lying!"
Kouki was giggling inside as those two kept exchanging.
"You actually believe him over me?!"
"That's not what I'm implying!"
As the screaming flies over and over, Kouki remembered something. He quickly darted his looks towards the pressure and saw something was wrong.
He quickly called out to Harue.
"Harue, your kitchen is going to explode in a minute!"
"E-Eh!? Waaaa!!"
He rushed over the gas stove and turned it off to avoid a disaster.
As they were arguing, the content from the cooker was starting to overflow. Now that this is prevented, everything is fine.
It is safe to say that the hero of the day is Kouki.