Chapter 99: Beautiful Girl, Crashes

The play is finally about to begin.

"Ayumi-chan! Are you okay?"

Moeka-chan calls out to me, worry written all over her face. I try to answer and reassure her, but…

"I–I'm f-foine, yesh."

…what even was that pronunciation? I’m absolutely not okay.

I keep telling myself to calm down, but the atmosphere backstage and the noise of the people filling the gymnasium only make my nerves worse.
My heart is pounding at an impossible speed, and it feels like it might fly out of my mouth if I open it too wide.

"When you’re nervous like this, write the character for ‘person’ on your palm three times and swallow it! It works!"

"I’ve already swallowed like fifty people…"

Moeka-chan lets out a bright "ahaha." Well, I guess sometimes all you can do is laugh.

"Ayumi, you practiced a lot. You’ll be fine."

"You look totally calm, Ryoji."

Ryoji steps out from behind Moeka-chan, giving me a refreshing smile and a thumbs-up.

"No way, I’m so nervous I could break into a forward-roll handstand any second now."

"What is that supposed to mean? Ahaha, you’re not nervous at all."

Seeing Ryoji act normal helps me relax just a little.

And he’s right. I really did work hard for this.

I embarrassed myself with that unbelievably monotone delivery…
I embarrassed myself during rehearsals when everyone laughed…
I embarrassed myself putting on that ridiculously cute village-girl costume…
Wait. Have I only been embarrassing myself!?

Well, whatever! At this point, one more embarrassing moment won’t make a difference. A girl’s gotta have guts.

"Anyway, once the play starts, whether you cry or laugh, you just have to make it to the end. So let’s enjoy it."

"Yeah… you’re right."

Enjoy it, huh… Ryoji always supports me.

Ever since the time when I was still a boy, he’s treated me the same. He’s always helped me when I needed it.

That’s why… I fell for him. I know he probably won’t see me that way, but I still want to stay by his side. I want to cherish the moments when I can be near him.

"Next up is Class 1-A’s performance."

With thunderous applause filling the gym, the stage curtains open.
Okay. Let’s do this.

The play goes smoothly.

At first my voice got a little too quiet from nerves, but gradually I stopped noticing everything around me.
The further we got, the more fun it became. Acting on stage made me feel like I wasn’t myself at all—like I’d stepped into someone else’s skin.

I wonder if everyone came to watch us. I don’t have the mental room to check, but I hope they came.

I felt confident that if things continued like this, I’d make it to the end.

Ryoji, playing the childhood friend, rescues me—the heroine who was taken captive by the enemy nation.
After the emotional reunion and the scene where the two lovers decide to return home together, the story heads into the climax.

This is the scene where I desperately try to stop Ryoji, who must head back to the battlefield.

The battlefield he’s returning to is the harshest yet—no one expects to survive. Ryoji has resolved to go for the sake of his country, and the heroine clings to him with everything she has.

"Being separated from you… I hate it too! But I don’t have a choice…"

A spotlight illuminates only the two of us.

We reach the emotional climax: the moment when the childhood friend and the heroine part ways, and the heroine sets off for another country.

According to the script, after Ryoji’s line, the heroine avoids giving a final reply… and instead gives him a kiss—

—Or she was supposed to.

…Huh?

The next line wouldn’t come out.
The most important line—completely vanished.

My mind went blank.

This is bad this is bad this is bad! No matter how hard I try, the words won’t come. They’ve completely fallen out of my brain.

Nervousness and embarrassment have turned my whole body into a boiling kettle.

I look toward Ryoji.

He’s staring at me with a worried expression. Why do I always fail at the most important moment?

"Uh…"

I have to say something—anything. But nothing comes out. I can’t force it.

If this goes on, I’ll ruin everything.

I practiced so much. So much! What do I do!?

"…I’ll come back for you, no matter what! Yes, I promise you—I’ll return!"

"What…?"

I whisper under my breath.

That wasn’t Ryoji’s line. It was supposed to be mine next.

"Ah…"

And then it hits me.

"I’ll return." Right! The line was "Promise me you’ll return alive—for my sake."

I remembered!

"Please… promise me you’ll return alive, for my sake."

Then the heroine leans toward her childhood friend and pretends to give him a kiss.

After that, the narration comes in and the play ends…!

I run toward Ryoji exactly as written in the script.

"Eek!"

My feet tangle.

Just a step or two before reaching him.
Maybe because I’d been frozen with tension after forgetting my line, and then suddenly relaxed the moment I got through it.

But I can’t fall. I try desperately to regain my balance, but I fail—and end up leaping straight into Ryoji.

And then—

A warm, soft sensation, followed by the sharp pain of teeth hitting.

"Huh!?"

Ryoji and I let out the same startled gasp.

Even then, he held me firmly so I wouldn’t fall over.

No way… just now… that feeling…

I slowly touch my fingers to my lips.

A moment later, the entire gym erupts into cheers.

Shouts of "Whoooa!" and "Kyaa!" explode everywhere. The place has completely turned into a zoo, and I can’t even tell what’s going on anymore.

But none of that mattered to me.

I… kissed Ryōji.

The curtains happened to come down right after, which was the only thing that saved me, because at that point, I was in no condition to act or even think about the play at all.

I kissed Ryōji… I kissed him…

That one fact consumed every inch of my brain.

Every time my fingers brushed my lips, the memory came rushing back, and my face burned all over again.

Everyone in class congratulated us and praised our performance afterward, but none of it registered.

All I could think was: What do I do? What do I do?

There was no joy. Not even the tiniest bit.

It was an accident, but… what am I supposed to say to Ryōji? From his point of view, kissing me must’ve been disgusting. He knows I used to be a boy, after all…

He must hate me now. The more that thought echoed in my head, the more hollow I felt.

"—chan. Ayumi-chan!"

"Huh… Moeka-chan…"

In the classroom being used as our changing room, Moeka-chan called out to me.

She must’ve noticed how strange I looked, because she’d made sure everyone else left. Only she remained. I’d caused trouble again…

"Are you okay? Your face is completely pale!?"

"Ah… yeah."

She seemed worried I wasn’t feeling well, which only made me feel guiltier.

"I’m fine…"

"Are you sure? Do you want to go to the nurse’s office?"

"No, it’s okay."

Moeka-chan gently patted my head.

Her kindness was comforting—and painful. Even my friends were getting dragged into my mess.

"Ayumi-chan, you look like you’re hurting. You don’t have to force yourself, okay?"

"…Yeah."

The moment I saw Moeka-chan’s gentle expression, tears began spilling out.

"I… I kissed Ryōji."

"But that was an accident, right?"

"Accident or not! Accident or not, I’m sure Ryōji hated it…"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because he…"

I couldn’t say the reason—because he knows I used to be a boy. The words stuck in my throat.

"It’s okay."

There was no proof behind Moeka-chan’s reassurance. But somehow… it loosened the tight knot in my chest just a little.

"It really is okay!"

With that, Moeka-chan wrapped her arms around me and hugged me.

"Aaah~ Ayumi-chan, you smell so good and you’re so soft, I love youuu."

"E-eh!? Um—"

"Pff— just kidding! Just kidding! It’s gonna be fine. Ryōji-kun told me to tell you ‘don’t worry about it.’ And he said it with a huge goofy grin."

"I-Is that… true?"

"Uh-huh, totally!"

I still wasn’t sure if Ryōji was actually worried or not… but somehow, I felt a little lighter. Maybe he was being considerate. Or—if he really said it with that goofy grin—maybe he was genuinely fine?

"He keeps telling you not to worry, but trust me, he’s definitely thrilled about it!"

"Do you really think so…?"

If he’s happy… would that make me happy too? Even if it was just an accident…

"Yup! So Ayumi-chan, stop stressing! Think of it as a lucky break!"

Lucky… huh. I guess that’s one way to look at it… maybe? But—

"I really wanted my first kiss to be a proper one…"

"Ayumi-chan…! You’re so cute! You’re totally a girl in love now!"

Oh no. I said that out loud. I slapped both hands over my mouth, but it was too late—Moeka-chan already had me in a hug, ruffling my hair like crazy.

"Uuugh! That didn’t count! Forget I said that!"

"Too late~!"

Aaaaah! Of all people to hear it, why did it have to be her!?

"Hehe! So now the only question is… when are you going to confess?"

"C-c-c-co—"

"Ayumi-chan, you’re clucking like a chicken!"

That’s because you keep dropping bombs on me! I’ve never even considered confessing to Ryōji.

Because if I did… I’m sure things between us would never be the same.

…But maybe she’s right. Maybe I need to start changing, even just a little.

Yoshino-san said it too—"When the moment comes, all you need is a bit of courage."
If I let the festival end just like this, we’ll slip right back into our usual everyday routine. It’s because this is a special event—because I get to act with Ryōji now—that this might be the time.

"Oh! Ayumi-chan, your phone’s ringing."

"Eh!? Oh—yeah, it is."

I quickly grab my phone.

It’s a new message from the messenger app.

Let’s see… the sender is… Aoi-kun.

The message reads: “Can we meet now?”

I froze, staring at the screen. Moeka-chan tilted her head and asked, "What’s wrong?"

I hesitated, unsure if I should tell her—but in the end, I explained that Aoi-kun had just invited me out.

Moeka-chan let out a thoughtful "hohoo…" that made my nerves jump even higher.

"Ayumi-chan… what are you going to do?"

"…I’m going. I’ll go meet him."

"I see. Then—good luck!"

Even someone as clueless as me understood what Aoi-kun’s message probably meant.

All I can do… is be honest about my feelings.